Food security action plan goes with the grain

China has initiated a new round of action to significantly increase its grain output in the coming years, in its latest effort to ensure food security.

According to an action plan published by the State Council, China's Cabinet, the country aims to boost its grain production capacity by over 50 million tonnes by 2030. At that time, the grain growing area should total about 1.75 billion mu, or 117 million hectares, and the grain yield per mu should reach 420 kilograms.

China has seen a grain harvest of over 650 million tonnes for nine consecutive years, with the per capita share of grain at 493 kilograms. However, there is still a "tight balance" between the grain supply and demand and the gap may expand in the future.

Corn and soybeans will be the major contributors to the grain output increase, according to the plan. In terms of rice and wheat, the emphasis is on improving the quality. The growing of other types of grain, along with potatoes and beans, will also be promoted based on local conditions.

At the same time, the plan also focuses on key areas and weak links in grain production, and the planning and implementation of some key projects in 720 crucial grain producing counties, including agricultural water saving, high-standard farmland construction, seed industry revitalization, increased grain yield, sustainable farming, agricultural mechanization enhancement, improvement of the agricultural disaster prevention and reduction mechanisms, comprehensive utilization of saline-alkali land and the bolstering of grain processing, warehousing and logistics capabilities.

Policymakers expect to drive the effective implementation of key grain varieties and production capacity improvement tasks through their focus on these key sectors, key counties and key tasks. By raising funds through multiple channels and rationally implementing the plan, the country is expected to effectively improve farmland water conservancy and the nation's agricultural infrastructure conditions, speed up the remedying of shortcomings such as technological innovation in the seed industry, and enhance its comprehensive grain production capacity.

It is the pressure from the external development environment that has prompted the central government to unveil the plan during the annual spring plowing season. Although China has been trying to diversify the sources of its imports of food, the rising protectionism in many major grain exporting countries, the bloc confrontation some major countries are instigating targeting China, the influences of such regional hotspot issues as the Ukraine crisis and the tensions in the Red Sea, as well as the increasing impacts of extreme weather are all practical factors spurring the country to strive to increase its own grain output to ensure national food security.