Strengthening the Management System of Green Food Production
Bases in China
ZHANG Yongxia
China Agricultural University, College of Economics & Management
Zhangyongxia00@163.com
Abstract This paper started with the profile of green food production bases in China, and summarized
the current achievement of green food production bases, then analyzed the difficulties and issues in
supervision, system, management agencies, etc.. In the end of paper, measures and suggestions that
strengthen the management system of green food production bases were imposed. The government
should play a key role in nationwide investigation, integrated support system, financial support and
producer credit record system.
Key words Green food production base, Management, Supervision, Support system.
1 Instruction
Through reviewing domestic and foreign literatures about Chinese green food production bases,
some researchers introduced the development status of green food production bases, and some
researchers analyzed the issues on organization and management about green food production bases.
These researches established a good base for my research, but still lacked a deep and intensive analysis
in system, management and implementing. The author took a new analysis method from governmental
support syste
2 The profile of green food production bases in China
2.1 The definition of green food
According to China Green Food Development Center (CGFDC), Green Food stands edible produce
and processed products produced in sustainable environment and technical standards with whole-some
quality control, non-pollution, safety, quality and special logo. In China, safety food are classified into
three kinds, which are Pollution-free Agricultural Product, Green Agricultural Product and Organic
Agricultural Product from low to high in safety degree. Organic Agricultural Products are also Green
Agricultural Products but Organic Agricultural Products are higher than Green Agricultural Products in
safety degree. [1]
2.2 Basic statistics of green food production bases
There have been 151 standardized production bases of green food in 14 provinces of China by the
end of 2006, which mainly distribute in the main regions of advanced agricultural products and
standardized demonstration area, including Heilongjiang, Inner Mongolia, Shandong, Liaoning, Jilin,
Anhui, Hubei, Ningxia, etc.. In addition, there are still 83 green production bases newly applied by 63
counties that have entered into one year establishment term. There are 31 types of green raw materials,
which include grains, oil crops, vegetables, fruits, tea, seafood, etc.. The total area of green food
production base is 2.7 million hm2. The yearly production of green raw materials has arrived at 18.8
million ton.[1] [3]
2.3 The management mechanism of green food production base
In sep, 2007, China Green Food Development Center enacted “national standardized green raw
material production bases supervision and management methods” which regulated that the Green Food
Management Office of Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) and China Green Food Development Center
(CGFDC) are responsible for organizing and implementing management of production bases of green
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raw materials. CGFDC is supervised by MOA and is a specialized agency responsible for national
development and management of Green Food. CGFDC has 42 provincial and municipal branch agencies,
and has 38 quality inspection stations and 71 environmental monitoring branches. CGFDC has regulated
“the regulations on management of green food production bases” and “detailed rules on management of
green materials production bases” based on which many provinces enacted enforcement rules. The
regulations and enforcement rules become the instruction of management for green food production
bases in most green food produced regions.
，
3 The achievement in green food production bases
3.1The authorized special agency has been established
In China, there had no special agency responsible for managing green food before 1992. At that
time, the few organic food producers in China depended on international certification agencies and
organic food production bases were managed by firms which engaged in organic production. In 1992
China Green Food Development Center (CGFDC) founded. But until sep, 2007, CGFDC isn’t
authorized by law to be responsible for managing green food production bases. Now CGFDC play a key
role in managing green food production bases as an authorized agency. CGFDC is responsible for
Generation of policy, regulation, strategic plan, and responsible for Creation and implementation of
standard Quality control of Green Food production. In addition, CGFDC Organizes various activities
related to Green Food production, such as research, demonstration, technical extension, training,
education and international exchange and cooperation etc. As an authorized special agency, CGFDC
pushed the nationwide enlargement of green food production bases. [8]
3.2 The large scale standard green production bases have been establishing
In 2005 the program of the large scale standard green production bases was initiated . Through
three years striving, nowadays, large scale standard green production bases have been founded in some
extend In recent years, many regions have taken action to establish large scale green food production
bases, for example, Heilongjiang province requires province-level production base must attain to a
certain scale. The province requires that the scale of grains and beans production base is at least 2666
hm2, the scale of greenhouse vegetable is at least 6.7 hm2, the scale of land vegetable is at least 6.7 hm2,
the scale of hen eggs is at least 200 thousand hens, the scale of duck eggs is at least 50 thousand ducks
and the scale of cows and beefs is at least 10 thousand heads, etc.. In 2007, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous
Region established 5 green production bases, which scale are all more than 6.7 thousand hm2. There are
still some other provinces such as Jilin, Liaoning, Jiangxi which have also set up large scale standard
green production bases.[1]
。
，
3.3 The standards and regulations on green food production bases are going perfect
The regulations and details rules enacted by CGFDC provide general rules in establishing
production bases. The provinces and counties enacted more detailed enforcement rules according to
local status. These regulations and rules provide very concrete standards, technical operating
instructions during establishing and management of production bases. According to these regulations
and rules, some regions set up a series of management systems about production management, input
requirement, technical instruction and extend, producers’ education, environment protection, supervision
and control, and normative and complete producers’ records about goods input. These systems could
guarantee production bases can supply qualified materials for companies and consumers in certain
extent. The uniform nationwide standard of production bases promote the whole green food industry
develop and get strengthened.
3.4 The government strengthened support for foundation of green food production bases
In recent years both state and province government increased financial support for green food
production bases, and regulated many support policy to promote production bases’ development,
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including financial privilege, tax privilege, free-charge of test and certification, etc.. From 2000,
Heilongjiang input 55 million yuan RMB into foundation of green food production bases every year.
The emphases of support are large scale, high standard and well profitable green food production bases.
Jilin had input 50 million yuan RMB into establishing green food production bases, and also absorbed
investment 300 million yuan RMB from companies and social resource. In jiangxi province, local
government which planned to set up green food production bases arranged more than 200 thousand yuan
RMB as implementing funds.
4 The difficulties and issues of green food production bases
4.1 It’s very difficult to supervise production practices
Even though the scale of every production base is very large, but the large scale production base is
made up of hundreds of connected small pieces of farm land and managed by many small farm
households. So it is very difficult to standardize and monitor production practices in a sector composed
of millions of farm households who typically have less than 10 acres of land divided into several
noncontiguous plots. Some farmers have little knowledge about correct chemical use; for example, they
may fail to wait the prescribed number of days between the last application of a pesticide and harvest,
resulting in excessive residues in the harvested product. In addition, Farmers have only usage rights to
their land, so they lack ownership incentives to make costly investments in some degree.
4.2 Successful Industries Achieve Safety Standards, but at a Cost
Now, firms have used two business models to impose more control over production practice: the
first is a fully vertically integrated model in which the company leases land and controls production
directly; the second is the use of production contracts with growers that specify chemical use and
production methods. But because the second method is high cost, most firms use the second method.
In Heilongjiang , the companies signed 520 thousand contracts with peasants in 2001. The sale
amount of green food by signing contract was 3.84 million tons, accounting for 85 percent of total
production. But in cases of signing contracts with growers, because production bases are managed by
many different small farm households, some peasants don’t abide by the production regulation, it’s
difficult to guarantee that the produced goods are qualified. The leasing model ensures greater control
over production than the contract model, but it also costs more and is limited by access to land.
Developing a production model that balances low costs against the risk of a safety problem is
challenging.
4.3 The system of support policies and management agencies is still inadequate
A system of standards and certification has been set up, but these standards and codes are still far
away from international authorized standards so that the logo of China’s green food is not recognized in
foreign markets, which displays that the techniques relative to green food’s test and certification are still
laggard. The producers of green food material are almost peasants, whose level of knowledge is very
low and need some necessary technical training. Most of the green food material producers can only sell
the products by contract with firms, or it’s very difficult to find market to sell their products at a higher
price than normal products. There still have not a well-developed market network to provide service for
producers. Some small producers disobey the regulations and don’t organize production according to
contract or standard technical specification, but there is not a suitable way to punish them. [4]
5 The measures and suggestions on Strengthening the management system
ofgreen food production bases
1 Organize nationwide investigation on green food material producers and firms every two years
In China, green food material producers and firms are main bodies in developing of green food
Industry. So if government officers can know their difficulties and demands termly and resolve problems
for them in time, green food material production development will be promoted and form a sustainable
and stable cycle. The content of investigation should concentrate on these aspects: farm profile ,green
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food material production and production details, market channels, timing of price determination, market
trend, trends in average prices, percentage of green product sold into the conventional market,
assessment of marketing information resources, the effect of government policy. [2] [6]
2. Establish an integrated support system for green food material production bases
In China, Green agriculture delivers environmental and social benefits to society, and green food
Industry should be regarded as an infant industry requiring support until it is able to compete in
established markets, but firstly green food material production bases should be supported. The integrated
support system should include government standards and certification, conversion and support payments
for green food material producers, targets for land under green management, and policies supporting
research, education, and marketing. [7]
3. Chinese governments should increase financial support and help absorb social investment to set
up sustainable green food material bases
Chinese governments should support green agriculture through green payments for converting to
and continuing green farming. The government payments should partly compensate new or transitioning
green food material producers for any increase in costs or decline in yields in moving from conventional
to organic production. Chinese governments should spend vast fund to research new techniques to
further improve quality of green food and the level of certification and test in order to make domestic
standards more closer to international standards, and hold green food production training for a great
many of producers to make them know necessary knowledge in production practice. [3] [5]
4. Establish producer credit record system
Because the producers of green food materials sell their products by contract with firms, and
average household production scale is very small, so compared with the firms, the risk that producers
have to face is less when the green food material they produced are testified unqualified, they can sell
their products to other buyers. In some cases, because one producer don’t practice according to the
regulated standard, for example, he used a kind of forbidden pesticide, his performance could influence
other farmlands around his own, then make other producers and firms lose much. So It’s very necessary
to establish a record system of producer credit. If a producer has a bad credit record, he will be punished
by canceling his rights in enjoying some kinds of preferential polices such as financial privilege, tax
privilege, etc.. If a producer has a good credit record in several continuous years, he can enjoy more
preferential polices. By this way, the number of producers who violate a contract could decrease.
6 Conclusion
There are a growing number and variety of green food production bases in China. Through the
striving of government, green food produced firms and farm producers, the achievement of green food
production bases is great, but there are still some issues and difficulties in the process of green food
bases establishing and enlarging. In order to overcome these problems, the government should arrange a
series of system including investigation, integrated support system, financial policies and producer
credit record system.
References
[1] China Green Food Development Center http://www.greenfood.org.cn. (in Chinese)
[2]Amber Waves. Development of the U.S. and EU Organic Agricultural Sectors. Economic Research
Service. U.S. Department of Agriculture.
[3]Lianfu liu The development of green food industry and production bases establishing. Chinese Food
and Nutrition. 2002,4:59-61
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[4]Organic certification farm planning, management and marketing. http://anrcatalog.ucdavis.edu/
[5]Organic Food: New Regulation to foster the further development of Europe's organic food sector.
http://www.europa.eu
[6]Organic Production Systems General Principles and Management Standards. Canadian General
Standards Board. 2006
[7]The status of organic agriculture in minesota. Agricultural Resources Management and Development
Division.Minnesota Department of Agriculture.2006
[8]Yuting zhong The establishing and management of green food production bases. Chinese Food and
Nutrition 2002 1 60-61
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