An employee of the Qilihe National Grain Depot airs corn in Yixian county, Jinzhou city, Northeast China’s Liaoning province, Nov 13, 2014. China’s grain output expanded 0.9 percent from last year to hit 607.099 million tons in 2014, marking 11 years in a row of grain production increase, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Dec 4, 2014.[Photo/Xinhua]
China’s grain output rose 0.9 percent from last year, reaching 607.1 million tons in 2014, according to data released on Dec 4 by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
The latest figure marked grain output growth for the 11th year in a row since 2004.
The 0.9-percent growth followed a 2.1-percent rise registered in 2013, when total grain production amounted to 601.94 million tons.
Hou Rui, a senior NBS statistician, said that stable government policies toward agriculture, effective enforcement of policies and measures as well as technology contributed to the rise.
“Since the beginning of this year, the central government has rolled out a raft of favorable support policies including timely allocations of budget subsidies to boost agricultural production,” Hou said.
The output rise was also the result of expansion of total acreage for grain crops this year amid measures taken to re-adjust crop types. Some central China regions, for instance, have cut cotton farming so that more land became available for grain crops, Hou said.
The total size of arable land for grain crops stood at 112,738,000 hectares this year, up 783,000 from a year ago, the NBS data showed.
Hou said the country has also increased subsidies to promote wider application of technology in grain production, resulting in an output rise per unit of arable land.
Heilongjiang, Henan, and Shandong provinces ranked the top three grain producers in the country in 2014.
A farmer airs newly-harvest paddy in Dongqi village, Gushan township, Jiangyin city of East China’s Jiangsu province, Nov 18, 2014.[Photo/Xinhua]
A farmer checks crops in a paddy field in Shaoshui township, Quanzhou county of South China’s Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, Sept 24, 2014..[Photo/Xinhua]
Farmer Wang Qiaoying airs corn in Xihan village, Xinjiang county, Yuncheng city of North China’s Shanxi province, Nov 4, 2014. [Photo/Xinhua]
Farmers harvest in a paddy field in Shagang village, Shuikou township, Jing’an county, East China’s Jiangxi province, Nov 6, 2014.[Photo/Xinhua]
A farmer harvests paddy in Qiongzhong county, South China’s island of Hainan province, Nov 8, 2014.[Photo/Xinhua]
