China issues guideline to raise annual food yield

The central government has unveiled a closely watched guideline aimed at increasing the nation's annual food yield by more than 50 million metric tons by 2030, with corn and soybean productivity being the focus, according to the National Development and Reform Commission, the country's top economic planner.

The commission, which drafted the document alongside the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, said on Tuesday the document was recently passed and issued by the State Council, China's cabinet.

The full text of the guideline is yet to be released, but the commission said that the central authorities required the growing areas to stabilize around 116.7 million hectares, on a par with the current level.

The grain productivity is expected to top 6.3 tons each hectare, it said, up from 5.8 tons last year.

The guideline also broke down the yield boosting target into priorities for different crops, such as improving quality for rice and wheat, stepping up productivity for corn and expanding growing areas for soybean, which is heavily reliant on import.

The commission has selected 720 counties across the nation as "key zones" for advancing project over the next six years, where efforts are expected to be ramped up to build irrigation facilities and high-standard farmland suitable for large mechanical farming and better resistance to climate change, among others. Drives will also be launched to bolster crop seed quality.

Official figures showed that China's annual grain yield has remained above 650 million tons for nine consecutive years, and per capita food stockpile was 493 kilograms.