Premier Li Keqiang inspected grain production at Baishui village in Hengnan county during his June 11 tour to Hengyang city, Central China’s Hunan province.

Hunan is well known as “a land of rice and fish,” with its grain production ranked first in the country for years.

The Premier asked for details about average yield and revenue, the price of chemical fertilizer and quality of agricultural machinery, and talked with farmers to learn how much crop should be planted to achieve the break-even point.

He encouraged farmers to explore various forms of operation according to different farmland conditions.

He said farmers’ motivation in grain planting would determine whether the country could feed the over 1.3 billion population, so it is of great importance. The government will spare no effort to support agriculture, putting more into such infrastructure areas as water conservancy facilities.

At the same time, we will innovate the mechanism to release market forces and guarantee income for farmers growing grain, the Premier added.