BEIJING — China's agricultural sector expanded steadily during the first three quarters of the year, with a stable increase in farmers' incomes, an official said on Oct 25.

The added value of the country's primary industry hit 4.3 trillion yuan ($614.3 billion) during the period, up 2.9 percent year-on-year, Wei Baigang, an official with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, told a news conference.

Disposable incomes of farmers jumped 6.4 percent year-on-year to 11,622 yuan.

China's grain output is expected to reach over 650 billion kg for a fifth straight year in 2019, sustaining 16 consecutive years of a bumper harvest.

Pig production is likely to rebound by the year-end and recover to normal levels next year, as pig herds are increasing month-on-month in many provinces, Wei said, adding that the output and sales of hog feed also picked up in September.

The output of poultry, beef and mutton all rose during the nine-month period, reaching 15.39 million metric tons, 4.58 million tons and 3.3 million tons, respectively, he said.

In the midst of an outbreak of African swine fever, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed that the country's pork prices shot up nearly 70 percent year-on-year last month, driving overall consumer prices up 3 percent. China is currently the world's largest consumer of pork.