The basic root of discontent on the farm is unrelieved poverty. This was despite express orders that Beijing gave to agricultural and rural officials last year to raise rural income by at least 4 per cent. Per capita income in the countryside is about 2,200 yuan a year, compared to that of close to 12,000 yuan in the big cities. Moreover, while an estimated 95 per cent of workers laid off from state factories are entitled to subsistence-level living subsidies, peasants are not covered by any security net. The number of unemployed and under-employed farmers is estimated at more than 150 million.
Many factors are behind the farmers' plight.
Prices for rural items ranging from grain to pork have been depressed since the mid-1990s. Yet peasants' biggest burden are taxes, and particularly, multiple types of fees levied by county and village administrations. Excessive levies were behind an ugly incident in central Jiangxi province last August, when more than 20,000 farmers clashed with 2,000-odd PAP officers, resulting in at least one death and injuries to more than 100. Yet this rule is often broken. Much more problematic are fees, the main source of funds for grassroots administrations.