The development of agricultural logistics

I. Chain structure of Chinese agricultural production

The process of Chinese agricultural production is roughly divided into five major segments: pre-production preparation, mid-production management, post-production processing, commercial circulation and final consumption. If these five links are viewed as a whole, they form the chain-like structure of Chinese agricultural production (the agricultural production process is shown below), i.e. the Chinese agricultural production industry chain. (Click to see the big picture)

In the links and nodes of the chain structure of China's agricultural production, agricultural logistics plays an important bridging role, which profoundly affects the situation and level of agricultural production and circulation.

The scope and classification of agricultural logistics

For a long time, agricultural outputs - agricultural products has been the focus of attention of agricultural production and logistics, and there is an intuitive understanding of agricultural logistics is equivalent to the process of circulation of agricultural products in the packaging, transportation, storage and loading and unloading, this understanding of the logistics object or logistics services from the scope of the This understanding, both from the logistics object and the scope of logistics services, are far from reflecting the whole picture of China's agricultural logistics, because of the neglect of agricultural inputs - agricultural production materials related to logistics.

According to the fluid object of agricultural logistics, agricultural logistics should include two categories: agricultural production material logistics and agricultural products logistics.

Agricultural production material logistics is the agricultural production process necessary agricultural production material production, storage and transportation, distribution, distribution and information activities formed in the logistics. It is to agricultural production inputs as the object of logistics, it involves seedlings, feed, fertilizer, mulch and other agricultural materials and agricultural equipment production and logistics planning, agricultural production materials, the use of information services and markets.

Agricultural logistics is the formation of agricultural outputs as the object of logistics, according to the classification of agricultural products include: food crop logistics; cash crop logistics; animal husbandry products logistics; aquatic products logistics and forestry products logistics.

Agricultural logistics is to meet customer demand as the goal of agricultural production materials and outputs and their related services and information, from the origin to the consumption of efficient and effective flow and storage of the whole process of planning, implementation and control. It contains two logistics fluid objects - agricultural production materials and agricultural products. It is composed of a series of operational links such as procurement of agricultural production materials and agricultural products, production, circulation and processing, packaging, transportation, storage, loading and unloading, distribution, distribution, information communication, etc., and in the whole process of agricultural production materials and agricultural products to achieve the preservation of value, value-added and organizational goals.

Based on the main stages of the agricultural production process and material transformation, agricultural logistics should be divided into four types:

1, agricultural pre-production logistics. Agricultural pre-production logistics and agricultural production process necessary for the preparation of agricultural production materials directly related, it is the production of agricultural production materials, storage and transportation, distribution, distribution and information activities in the formation of logistics. It involves seedlings, feed, fertilizer, mulch and other agricultural materials and agricultural equipment pre-production preparation, also involves the use of agricultural production materials and market information services.

2, agricultural production logistics. Agricultural production logistics is in the agricultural farming activities until the output of agricultural products in the process, due to the allocation and utilization of factors of production and the formation of logistics. As China's agricultural production is based on the form of small-scale production of a family, so the general agricultural production logistics is limited geographically, logistics, single, smaller flow.

3, agricultural distribution logistics. Agricultural distribution logistics is the object of agricultural outputs, through post-production processing of agricultural products, packaging, storage, transportation and distribution and other logistics links, to achieve value-added agricultural products, and ultimately delivered to the hands of consumers. Because of the qualities of agricultural products themselves, as well as production and marketing of geographically dispersed characteristics of a wide range, so the agricultural logistics planning, methods and means to put forward a relatively high demand for this logistics process is the current agricultural products to realize the market value of the key links.

4, agricultural waste logistics. In the process of agricultural production and circulation of agricultural products until consumption, there will be waste, useless and recyclable materials generated, the process of their treatment of the formation of logistics activities is agricultural waste logistics.

Agricultural waste logistics flow size, processing costs depend on the degree of processing of agricultural products and the level of logistics planning; due to the characteristics of agricultural production materials and agricultural products, it is necessary to start from the perspective of green environmental protection, the establishment of agricultural production, circulation of agricultural products and consumption of waste recycling system. At present, agricultural waste generation is large in number, but not enough attention.

Three, the basic characteristics of China's agricultural logistics

1, agricultural logistics involves a wide range of large quantities. Agricultural logistics fluid including agricultural production materials and agricultural outputs, basically covering the seedlings, feed, fertilizer, mulch and other agricultural materials and agricultural equipment, as well as planting, breeding, animal husbandry and forestry, etc., logistics nodes, complex structure. Because of the important position of agriculture in China's national economy, so that agriculture is closely related to the production and marketing of agricultural means of production and supply and demand is huge, only one fertilizer, China's fertilizer consumption in 2002 reached 43.39 million tons (pure nutrients), accounting for the world's total consumption of 1/3 of the world's fertilizer consumption accounted for the world's first. At present, China's consumption of agricultural products for daily life is mainly in the form of fresh food and fresh sales, in the dispersed production and marketing places to meet the consumption of different time and space on the demand, so that China's agricultural logistics is faced with a huge challenge in terms of quantity and quality; China's consumption of agricultural products for daily life, the proportion of goods into a relatively low, but with agricultural products as raw materials for the light industry, textile and chemical industry also occupies an important position in the structure of China's industry.

2, agricultural logistics has independence and exclusivity. Because of the fluid - agricultural production materials and agricultural products biochemical characteristics make it different from the general logistics fluid, so the agricultural logistics system and storage and transportation conditions, technical means, circulation and processing and packaging methods have independence, and agricultural logistics facilities, equipment and means of transportation also have exclusivity. Therefore, in the initial stage of China's agricultural logistics requires large investment, slow development.

3, value preservation is the core of China's agricultural logistics development. Due to the low level of development of China's agricultural logistics, the annual loss of agricultural products in the logistics and circulation of the link is huge, so how to match the fluid of agricultural logistics with other elements such as carriers? How to use logistics technology to make agricultural products in the logistics process of effective value preservation? This is the current value-added than agricultural logistics is more important than the core issue of reducing the loss of agricultural logistics and circulation should be placed on the same important position as agricultural production.

Four, China's agricultural logistics, the main problems of the long term

1, agricultural logistics related theoretical research is seriously lagging behind

Because of the geographical nature of agricultural production, as well as the production of seasonal and perennial consumer demand for the antagonism between, resulting in China's agricultural products supply and demand for the spatial and temporal contradictions, the solution to the contradiction of the basic way to the development of China's modern agricultural logistics. Agricultural logistics only to do agricultural products to preserve the value of agricultural products, in order to realize the value of agricultural products and the use of value, and then it is possible to make agricultural products in the logistics process value-added.

In China's agricultural development process, "heavy production, light circulation," the influence of ideological awareness is widespread, and the agricultural production materials, agricultural circulation and logistics and distribution of related industries such as the synergistic development of the role of the lack of understanding, not to mention the formation of a complete framework of the agricultural logistics industry system. Agricultural logistics as an important part of the development of the agricultural industry, the serious lack of agricultural logistics theory. Reducing the cost of production and circulation of agricultural products, guiding the production and allocation of agricultural means of production, and improving the overall industrial efficiency of Chinese agriculture need to be guided by modern agricultural logistics theory. China's agricultural circulation and logistics related theoretical research, the status of China's agricultural modernization and development process, has not received due attention.

2, insufficient basic investment in agricultural logistics

Has been, we have been in the agricultural production link on the increase in production in full force, but logistics preservation technology, logistics processing and cold chain construction and other subsequent logistics link of the foundation of the investment is obviously insufficient. Comparison of the agricultural investment structure of China and the United States:

It can be seen that China's weak agricultural logistics status quo and the past quantitative agricultural production investment structure is closely related to the agricultural logistics in the basic inputs in the long term arrears make it difficult to fundamentally reverse the high logistics losses. Fruit and vegetable products, for example, according to relevant statistics, China's more than 80 million tons of fruits and vegetables rot each year, the total value of losses of nearly 80 billion yuan. Loss rate of 25% to 30%, can meet the basic nutritional needs of 200 million people. This is compared with the loss rate of fruits and vegetables in developed countries of less than 5%, the gap is huge.

On the other hand, in 2003, the rapid growth of investment has led to the rapid development of the equipment industry, in which the agricultural and sideline product processing special equipment manufacturing profits increased two times. From January to November 2003 economic performance, agricultural and sideline products processing industry realized profits of 13.49 billion yuan, an increase of 37.1%; food manufacturing industry realized profits of 9.66 billion yuan, an increase of 37.7%, of which, the liquid milk and dairy products manufacturing industry profit growth of 52%. From the sub-industry fixed asset investment situation analysis, agricultural food processing industry fixed asset investment situation is good, agricultural food processing industry completed fixed asset investment accounted for the proportion of fixed asset investment in the national food industry 39.30%, the industry's new fixed assets accounted for the proportion of 38.34% of the national food industry, the number of fixed asset investment projects and the scale of the largest proportion of the food industry in all categories, reflecting the national macro-control The effectiveness of the policy to increase the transformation of agricultural products.

3, agricultural logistics information system is not sound

Agricultural logistics fluid flow and process, and the resulting efficiency and effectiveness is closely related to the information system of agricultural logistics. Agricultural logistics information system includes both agricultural market information, including agricultural logistics resource information, but now the agricultural information system and agricultural logistics information system can provide information varieties and quality can not meet the needs of the lack of effective information guidance, agricultural and agricultural logistics flow with the blind, irrational process, which is the result of the loss of serious in-transit, affecting the value of the fluid value-added important reasons.

Vegetable prices rose in 2003, who can tell farmers what to plant next year? Will the area under vegetable cultivation increase substantially next year, thus causing vegetable prices to fall again? For a long time, the farmers of the market supply and demand information access to a single channel, the lack of means, lagging distortion phenomenon is serious, can not catch up with the market changes, to change this situation urgently need to establish a perfect information collection, processing and dissemination system.

4, agricultural logistics costs are high

Currently China's agricultural logistics costs are relatively high and unstable, which has logistics profits and transportation cost factors, but more is the impact of the logistics environment, due to poor road conditions, the cost of time, the order of the traffic in the improper phenomenon of the intangible increase in logistics costs (such as setting up a charge card, etc.). With the development of the logistics industry, basic agricultural logistics profits decline, and in transit losses and unreasonable logistics environment costs appear to be very prominent.

Most of the long-distance transportation of agricultural products is based on the primary form of agricultural logistics structure, low value-added products predominate in the main form of logistics of agricultural products, road transportation, for example, for agricultural products and industrial products with the same charges, but the two values and profits are vastly different, which is the industry called for the establishment of agricultural logistics "green channel "The reason why. 500 ml Meng milk supermarket price of 2.8 yuan / packet, of which the freight charges to account for 10%, not to mention the low value of low margin of the primary agricultural products.