A farmer in Northeast China's Heilongjiang province triggered much controversy when he said in an interview with CCTV that his annual income could reach about 300,000 yuan ($47,000). However, the annual income of one farmer cannot represent the actual income level nationwide, according to an article in Beijing News. Excerpts:

Many people believe the amount the farmer gave was exaggerated, but it's not impossible. The farmer works for a State-owned farm in the country's biggest agriculture demonstration zone and boasts of the highest level of mechanization. In this case, a family can till 500 mu (33 hectares) of farmland, or even more, and not surprisingly gain an annual income of hundreds of thousands of yuan.

However, such a zone is not commonly seen, and most self-employed farmers in rural areas are unable to handle such a large area of land.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the annual per capita net income of farmers was only 5,919 yuan last year, barely one-third of the per capita annual disposable income of urban residents. Even in agricultural demonstration zones, official figures show the per capita annual net income for more than 1.4 million farmers was only 10,800 yuan in 2009.

One example cannot even demonstrate the income level of farmers in a certain area, not to mention a national level. The question of how to increase the income of Chinese farmers remains the biggest issue, and more efforts should be made to reveal the actual income level and livelihood of farmers in general.

(China Daily 10/12/2011 page9)