Background Information
Yanchang County, nestled in Yan’an within the northern part of Shaanxi Province, is distinguished by its fertile lands on the loess plateau, ample sunlight, and significant diurnal temperature variations. These conditions cultivate the unique quality of Yan’an apples, celebrated for their vibrant color, thick cuticle, and crisp texture. As the primary apple-producing area in Yan’an, Yanchang County’s apple industry is vital to its local economy but has faced challenges such as adverse weather and market fluctuations. To mitigate these challenges and stabilize farmer incomes, Yanchang County adopted the "insurance + futures" model in 2017. This innovative financial approach has significantly enhanced local farmers’ risk management capabilities, ensuring steady incomes and contributing to the region’s rural revitalization. The ongoing success of this project highlights its effectiveness in protecting farmers against natural adversities and market risks, making it a cornerstone of Yanchang’s agricultural strategy.
Figure 1: The distribution of Age and Education in Yanchang
The above graph from Yanchang present an age and education distribution across different villages. The Age Distribution Plot suggests a varied age range among the villages, with certain villages having a younger population base (as indicated by the lower median age and tighter interquartile range), while others display a broader age distribution with outliers that suggest a presence of significantly older population segments. The Education Distribution Plot, likely scored on a scale, shows a fluctuating level of educational attainment across the villages.
Figure 2: The distribution of Area in Yanchang
Among all farmers, the average arable land area is 13.8 mu. The household with the least arable land has only 2 mu, while the most has 50 mu for cultivation (owning and leasing) (see Figure 1.2 for the distribution of arable land). Given that over 80% of farmers’ income comes from apple cultivation, the amount of arable land directly determines the total income of the farmers.
Figure 3: The distribution of Incomes in Yanchang
The vast differences in the size of landholdings also lead to disparities in farmers’ incomes. Regarding the output of apples last year, the average rate of marketable fruit was 0.7 (the ratio of good-quality fruit to all harvested fruit), with an average apple yield of 32,875 jin (a unit of weight), and an average yield of 2605 jin per mu. In terms of final income, the box plot of household income closely overlaps with the box plots of agricultural income and income from apple cultivation, indicating that the main source of income for farmers comes from apple farming. Therefore, significant natural disasters such as hailstorms that lead to a reduction in apple yield, as well as fluctuations in apple prices causing unstable income, can be devastating to the economic conditions of farmers. At the same time, with more than half of the households in a loss, these families cannot afford hail nets, making them even more vulnerable to future natural disasters.
Figure 4: The distribution of Net Income in Yanchang
The average labor cost for farmers planting apples last year was 18,798 yuan, the average total planting cost was 44,463 yuan, the average agricultural income was 90,509 yuan, the average household expenditure was 67,906 yuan, and the average net income was -14,707 yuan, with a median net income of 0 yuan. This indicates that half of the farmers experienced a financial loss in their household finances last year.