(Yicai Global) April 26 -- Farmers in China are most concerned about nine key issues, including medical care, education, employment, and grain planting, according to the findings of a new survey.

The survey was conducted by a 43-member research team led by Ye Jingzhong, a professor at the college of Humanities and Development of China Agricultural University, and 154 interviews were carried out across 10 villages in five provinces from March 2021.

The survey found that 44.2 percent of farmers said healthcare was one of the main household expenses. There is a huge medical gap between rural and urban areas, and farmers often have to go to hospitals in county towns or large cities to get treatment, and the medical expenditure is sometimes more than families can afford.

According to the survey, 37.3 percent of rural families are dissatisfied with local education. Only half of the 10 villages surveyed had kindergartens, and none had properly equipped elementary schools. This means rural families often have to buy or rent homes in towns or counties so that their children can go to school, which makes their financial burden heavier.

In the surveyed villages, 70.3 percent of the elderly live separately from their children, and they do not receive much care from them. The average proportion of the elderly accounted for 33.7 percent of the permanent population in villages, about twice that of urban areas.

The amount of money provided by rural pensions is far from enough to meet basic living needs, and it is normal for people who are aged 70 to 80 to keep farming to pay the bills.

In addition, the farmers also reported a lack of jobs in rural areas; the cost of cultivating grain is rising, and it is harder to make a profit; discharge of untreated sewage is a problem; roads are poor; and there is no guarantee of water supply for production and domestic use.

Editor: Tom Litting