Agricultural machinery industry enters the critical period of "closed cultivation"

[ China Agricultural Machinery Industry News ] After more than 10 years of rapid development in the agricultural machinery industry, the total revenue of the main business of agricultural machinery enterprises above designated size increased by 5.8% year-on-year in 2016, but the growth rate has dropped to the bottom of nearly 10 years. The agricultural machinery industry is characterized by increased agricultural machinery holdings, fierce market competition, accelerated product upgrades, and a slowdown in overall industry growth. The industry generally believes that with the advancement of structural reforms in the agricultural supply side, the agricultural machinery industry has entered a period of deep adjustment.

Agricultural machinery industry enters the critical period of "closed cultivation"

Affected by the adjustment of agricultural planting structure, the contradiction of agricultural machinery industry structure is prominent and growth is slowing down. Enterprises should further adapt to changes in market demand, vigorously promote the full mechanization of agricultural production, and deepen the "machine substitution"; at the same time insist on innovation, strengthen the research and development of key equipment core technologies, and accelerate the development of international markets -

The lack of core technology is a "pain point"

The agricultural machinery industry is not only affected by the development level of agricultural machinery, the adjustment of agricultural structure, the changes of agricultural subsidy policies, but also the national environmental protection policy. Chen Zhi, president of the China Agricultural Machinery Industry Association, believes that the structural reform of the agricultural supply side is one of the reasons for the decline in the growth rate of the agricultural machinery industry. Last year, the state adjusted the agricultural planting structure, the national grain corn planting area decreased by 30 million mu, the food price dropped, and the natural disasters in some areas, the income of farmers decreased, which affected the sales of agricultural machinery.

According to the statistics of the China Agricultural Machinery Industry Association, the growth rate of the two major agricultural machinery products of tractors and corn harvesters has fallen sharply. The output of tractors in the industry's backbone enterprises fell by 9.0% compared with the standard platform; the output of corn enterprises in the backbone enterprises fell by 43.54%, showing a cliff-like decline. The adjustment of agricultural machinery purchase subsidy policy affects the enthusiasm of farmers to purchase. Agricultural machinery purchase subsidies have not increased for three consecutive years, and the proportion and quota of subsidies for large-scale machinery and equipment have increased, resulting in a large gap in subsidy funds. The upgrade of the agricultural machinery in the country has increased the production cost and maintenance difficulty of agricultural machinery, and some dealers and agricultural machinery users have fear.

In Chen Zhi's view, under the dual pressures of modern agricultural production facing the constraints of resources and environment and the transformation of economic development mode, China's agricultural machinery industry has shifted from high-speed growth to medium-high-speed growth, from structural irrationality to structural optimization and upgrading, from factor-driven and investment. The drive turns to an innovative drive. The downward pressure on the industry continued to increase, and the overcapacity of low-end traditional agricultural machinery further intensified. Product homogenization has become a major challenge for the agricultural equipment industry, and the industry has entered a low-profit era.

At present, China's agricultural machinery industry development foundation and common technology are weak, and the key equipment technology is subject to the slow development of people and industry experimental research methods, directly affecting the safety and environmental performance of agricultural machinery and equipment, power and economic performance, product reliability, structural strength and other key components. And the core technology of the core is far from meeting the development needs of today's agricultural machinery industry. It is necessary to further increase technological innovation, pay more attention to guiding and promoting the transformation and upgrading of the agricultural machinery industry, and enhance the R&D and production of medium and full industrial chain equipment.

The effective supply of agricultural machinery complements the "short board"

However, the output of some agricultural machinery products, such as grain dryers and silage corn harvesters, adapted to market demand has shown a contrarian growth. The production of economic crops such as potatoes, soybeans, cotton and sugar cane, livestock, hilly mountainous areas and agricultural machinery and equipment in the straw industry are subdivided. Segments such as market and smart agriculture and facility agriculture continue to develop at a high speed.

According to the statistics of China Agricultural Machinery Industry Association, the output of feed harvesting machinery increased by 5.02% in 2016, the output of parts and components increased by 6.26%, the output of agricultural and sideline food processing machinery increased by 11.98%, the growth of grain dryers exceeded 30%, and the growth of silage harvesters also increased. faster. Due to the demand for rice straw treatment and changes in users, the output of the semi-feeding rice harvester in 2016 increased by 79.83% year-on-year. Rice transplanters increased by 11%.

This is the result of changes in the structure of agricultural machinery demand in China. In recent years, China has vigorously promoted the comprehensive mechanization of agricultural production. The agricultural mechanization has been extended from the cultivation and harvesting of major food crops to plant protection, drying and straw treatment; from food crops to cotton and sugar economic crops, to the aquaculture industry, Industrial development, all aspects of the agricultural industry in all areas urgently need to accelerate the "machine substitution." In areas with high levels of agricultural mechanization such as the northern plains and dryland areas, the upgrading of the gears is being accelerated, and the demand is shifting to high-horsepower, high-performance, and duplex work tools; the demand for relatively lagging regions such as paddy fields and hilly mountains in the south is rising rapidly. The agricultural machinery industry supply structure is also undergoing profound changes. Agricultural machinery products are expanded from field crops to agriculture, extending from farming to prenatal and postnatal.

Wang Jinfu, vice president of Zoomlion, told the reporter that Zoomlion’s agricultural machinery has intensified its innovation and promoted product upgrading and structural optimization. The products cover the breeding, land preparation, sowing and field management of major crops such as wheat, rice, corn and rape. The whole process of agricultural production such as harvesting, transshipment, drying and storage. Among them, the grain dryer has formed a series of products covering 8 tons to 1000 tons, and sales have achieved substantial growth last year. Breakthrough progress has been made in the development and manufacture of power-shifting high-powered tractors and silage harvesters.

Accelerate the development of the international market

In 2016, the comprehensive mechanization rate of major crops in the country increased from 63% to 65%. The mechanization rate of rice planting and corn, rapeseed, potato and cotton increased by more than 3%. The straw processing, plant protection and drying capacity of the main producing areas were obvious. Enhancement, the mechanized advancement of sugarcane production has achieved remarkable results. Chen Zhi believes that there is a lot of room for the development of agricultural machinery in China, and the rigid demand for agricultural machinery will continue to grow in the next five to ten years. It is estimated that the comprehensive mechanization rate of crop cultivation and harvesting in the country will reach 70% in 2020.

In terms of investment, investment in agricultural machinery enterprises continued to decline last year, but the government's financial support for the agricultural machinery industry continued to grow. The state budget funds invested 977 million yuan, an increase of 51.37%. The National Development and Reform Commission has successively arranged a number of major projects for the development of agricultural machinery and equipment, such as power shift tractors, cotton pickers, high-water corn seed harvester projects, etc.; the state-level advanced manufacturing industry investment fund has invested 600 million yuan in agricultural machinery enterprises; The 13th Five-Year Plan also has a funding of 300 million yuan.

The reporter learned that at present some domestic manufacturing companies have accelerated the pace of exploring the international market. China’s Yituo Marketing Minister Qi Haifeng told reporters that last year China’s one-to-one market expansion, “take inventory and promote upgrades” in China, promote product upgrades and structural optimization; and achieve breakthroughs in China’s power shift products in the international market. . The YTO-Donghong brand won the Gold Medal at the 34th Havana International Fair and was once again recommended by the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Mechanical and Electrical Products.

“Agricultural machinery manufacturers need to persist in innovation, relying on technology and differentiated products to stand out from the competition; at the same time, improve products and improve the process to achieve good products.” Chen Zhi said.