China is still facing a grain deficit of 37.5 million tons this
year despite a bumper summer harvest and a possible rise in the
rice yield, said Chen Xiwen, deputy director of the Office of
Central Financial Work Leading Group.
Speaking on Saturday at the opening of the China Food Security
Research Center, Chen said that the nation is sure to end its
consecutive decline in grain yields for the year.
His prediction is based on a wheat yield this summer that has
reached 101 million tons, a 4.8 percent year-on-year increase. The
rice harvest is also expected to swell as planted acreage has been
expanded by 533,000 hectares compared with last year.
"We can meet the target of producing 455 million tons of grain
this year but we have no reason to feel relaxed. A deficit
remains," said Chen.
China's production of wheat, corn, rice and other food grains
dipped from a record high of 512 million tons in 1998 to 431
million tons last year.
After consulting with economists, other experts and high-ranking
officials, Premier Wen Jiabao placed developing agriculture at the
top of his list of ten priorities for the cabinet in the second
half of this year.
Wen reiterated plans to strengthen grain output by urging local
governments to subsidize producers.
At the beginning of this year, the government earmarked a record
150 billion yuan (US$18 billion) to encourage farmers to increase
grain production, to improve rural infrastructure and to ensure the
country's food security this year.
To drive home a sense of urgency, tough measures were
implemented to check the disorderly and unauthorized acquisition of
farmland, said Lin Yueqin, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of
Social Sciences.
Farmland totaled 123.4 million hectares as of the end of last
year, down 6.7 million hectares from 1996, according to the Ministry of Land
and Resources.
Lin said the government should continue to implement policies
that make growing grain as attractive as possible for farmers.
He said major agriculture policies include lowering agriculture
taxes, giving subsidies directly to grain growers and setting
minimum purchase prices for staple grain products.
The newly opened China Food Security Research Center, located at
China
Agricultural University in Beijing, will focus on strategies
and policies for national food security.
(China Daily July 19, 2004)