Government forecasts bumper grain harvest

A farmer drives a cropper to collect wheat on June 18, in Wangzhai county, Bozhou city, Anhui province. [Photo/Xinhua]

Higher winter wheat output allays concerns over food security this year

Higher output of winter wheat and early-season rice will bolster China's grain output self-sufficency and allay worries over food security this year, the Ministry of Agriculture said.

China harvested more than 20 million hectares of winter wheat crop this week, accounting for about 90 percent of the total winter wheat crop.

Farm mechanization rates improved with 19,900 combine harvesters being used to harvest the wheat spread over an area of 18.87 million hectares, according to data provided by the farm mechanization department under the Ministry of Agriculture.

Officials from the agricultural departments of the major wheat-growing regions like Shandong and Henan also expressed confidence that winter wheat output this year would be higher than that of last year. The two provinces have so far harvested 3.74 million and 5.47 million ha of winter wheat.

Hubei, another prime winter wheat-growing province, has purchased 1.3 million metric tons of wheat from local farmers, up 53 percent from a year earlier. The purchases were managed by China Grain Reserves Corp's Hubei branch and the local government.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, all the 11 major grain-growing provinces in China have all reported higher yields this month.

Winter wheat in China is usually planted between September and November, and harvested in the summer or early autumn of the following year. The winter wheat crop accounts for more than 90 percent of China's total wheat output.

Hebei, Shandong, Jiangsu, Anhui and Henan collectively account for 70 percent of the total winter wheat production in China. Other major centers include Hubei, Shaanxi and Sichuan provinces.

Wang Zhimin, a professor who specializes in wheat growing technology at the Beijing-based China Agricultural University, said the higher grain output comes despite inadequate snowfall and rain in the crop-growing regions.

"Better supplementary irrigation facilities and adequate temperature during the winter have ensured the smooth growth of wheat during the past five months," said Wang.

China's total area under wheat cultivation has remained steady for the past five years at 24 million to 25 million ha. The country enlarged winter wheat production areas in the North China Plain and the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region last year to ensure sufficient stocks of staple grains.

"Based on current information, China's summer grain output will remain at a high level and winter wheat yields will see the 11th consecutive year of growth," said Wang.

Wang said the growth rate and output of winter wheat this year are much higher than that of last year. The stable growth in wheat imports are essential for China to keep flour and other wheat-related food prices stable.

With a total cultivated area of 27.59 million hectares, the output of China's summer grain crops totaled 131.89 million metric tons in 2013, up 1.5 percent on a year-on-year basis.

During the same period, winter wheat output reached 115.67 million metric tons, a 1.3 percent gain from a year earlier, according to China's National Bureau of Statistics.

Ding Shengjun, a senior researcher at the Academy of the State Administration of Grain, said summer grain output accounts for about 25 percent of China's total grain yields for the full year, and provide a solid foundation for the full-year grain harvest.

"However, China still faces a range of challenges to ensure growth in autumn grain yields, including extreme weather conditions, declining farmland quality in certain areas and water shortage," said Ding.

To prevent losses from plant diseases, grasshoppers and unfavorable weather in the coming months, the Ministry of Agriculture has urged that all the harvest-related work on winter wheat should be completed within this week, and its encouraging major production areas to accelerate the harvest pace by using more agricultural machinery.