NANCHANG — Vice-Premier Hu Chunhua has called for efforts to ensure agricultural production in the spring to lay a solid foundation for achieving the annual grain output target.

Hu, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks during an inspection trip to the city of Jiujiang in East China's Jiangxi province from March 17 to 19.

While inspecting spring plowing in the county of Yongxiu, Hu said that keeping grain production stable should be the top priority of agricultural work, urging sustained efforts to fulfill the task.

The country aims to keep its grain output above 650 million metric tons this year, according to this year's Government Work Report.

Visiting the city of Lushan and the county of Hukou, Hu stressed the protection of the water ecological environment along the Yangtze River and ecological management of the Poyang Lake, China's largest freshwater lake.