China sees record summer grain output, but concerns remain

BEIJING - China's yields of summer grain reached a record high in 2015 after 11 straight years of increase, but problems are still clouding the world's most populous country.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said last week that the country's summer grain output hit 141.07 million tons this year, up 3.3 percent from that of 2014.

China's summer grain crops, mainly wheat and early-season rice, usually account for about 25 percent of its annual grain output. Autumn grain crops, which include corn and middle- and late-season rice, account for the remaining 75 percent.

"The bumper harvest was a result of the central government's continued support for grain production and full capitalization on science and technology," said NBS senior statistician Hou Rui.

In the context of global grain output reduction and China's economic restructuring, 12 years of bumper harvest has provided a solid foundation to China's food security and sustainable development of agriculture, said Li Guoxiang, a researcher of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

But problems remain. The first is inadequate grain storage capacity.

Harvest season is supposed to be a good time for farmers but not for Tong Qiguo, a 53-year-old farmer from Yichang city of central China's Hubei province.

He reaped 160,000 kg of wheat from his 400-mu (around 27 hectares) farm, but failed to find places to store them like previous five years.

"Without storage facilities, harvest means nothing," he complained.

About 35 million tons of grain are lost or wasted in China every year in the course of storage, transportation and processing.

The country is striving to build more grain-storage facilities and help farmers improve storage conditions. Nevertheless, national grain stocks have hit a new high due to the bumper harvests and increasing imports, said Chen Xiwen, deputy head of the central agricultural work leading team.

Import of cereals and flour in the first six months of this year jumped 60 percent year on year to a record 16.29 million tons, latest customs statistics showed.

Li Guoxiang attributed the rise in overall imports to relatively lower global grain prices and a diversified demand of grains at home.

Ye Xingqing, head of the agricultural economy department of the Development Research Center under the State Council, said China's raising the minimum purchasing price for grain has made many grain products more expensive than in many other countries.