BEIJING: China’s total grain output reached 669.5 billion kilograms this year, an increase of 5.65 billion kilograms or 0.9 percent over the previous year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. The country’s grain output has exceeded 650 billion tonnes for six consecutive years, a level which meets China’s consumption demand, said Li Suoqiang, director of the NBS’ rural affairs department. In terms of grain output, the total yield of major crops like wheat, rice and corn reached 616.75 billion kilograms, increased by 0.5 percent compared with that of 2019. The output of rice and wheat increased by 1.1 percent and 0.5 percent respectively, while the corn output declined slightly by 0.1 billion kilograms. Stimulated by government policies, the planting area of soybeans increased by 5.9 percent compared with that of 2019, reaching 59.90 million hectares. And the total output of soybeans increased with the expansion of the planting area, growing by 8.3 percent and reached 19.6 billion kilograms.
Looking back, due to COVID-19 and floods in several southern provinces, concerns over food shortage have arisen among the public. But experts and officials of the agriculture ministry have assured the public that the impacts of floods and COVID-19 are very limited as the data of the Ministry of Emergency Management in late August showed that five percent of cropland in China was affected by floods, and only one percent was destroyed.
–The Daily Mail-CGTN News exchange item
