BEIJING: The central government has issued a guideline that aims to increase China’s annual food production capacity by more than 50 million metric tons by 2030, with a focus on corn and soybean, the National Development and Reform Commission, the country’s top economic planner, said on Tuesday.
China produces more than 650 million tons of grain a year and is almost self-sufficient in staple crops such as rice and wheat, but it is still heavily reliant on soybean from Brazil and the United States despite recent efforts to bolster local supplies.
The guideline, which was drafted by the commission with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, was recently approved by the State Council, China’s Cabinet, and issued to relevant authorities.
The full text of the document has not been released, but the commission said it aims to discourage the nonagricultural use of farmland and stabilize food growing areas across the nation at around 116.7 million hectares by 2030, around the current level.
Grain productivity is expected to exceed 6.3 tons a hectare by then, it said, up from 5.8 tons last year.
The guideline also suggests priorities for boosting production of different crops, such as improving the quality of rice and wheat through optimizing variety structures, increasing productivity for corn and expanding growing areas for soybean. –The Daily Mail-China Daily news exchange item
