February 19, 2008

 

China seeks to expand grain acreage and recover livestock production after snowstorms

 

 

China's Ministry of Agriculture Monday urged its provincial departments to take measures to restore production and guarantee supply of major agricultural products following some of the country's worst snowstorms in decades.

Agriculture Minister Sun Zhengcai said in a statement it will be increasingly difficult to guarantee supply of oilseeds, vegetables and meat in the coming months, but the country is unlikely to see a big shortage of agricultural products.

 

China lost 4.45 million pigs, 435,000 cattle, 1.68 million sheep and 67.39 million poultry due to  the snowstorms as of Feb. 14.

 

The country aims to fully restore livestock and poultry production by August and that of hogs by December, said the ministry.

 

To restore production to pre-storm levels, rises in prices of crop seeds, fertilizer and other raw materials must be controlled, the ministry's website said.

 

Heavy snowstorms in southern, central and eastern China had affected 3.26 million hectares of rapeseed crop, or 48.4 percent of winter rapeseed crop acreage as of Feb. 14, said a statement on the website. 

 

Of this area, 56.8 percent or 1.85 million hectares had been damaged, while another 410,000 hectares would not be harvested at all, it said.

 

The snow also affected 584,000 hectares of wheat acreage, of which 190,000 hectares were damaged and another 17,333 hectares were rendered unharvestable, the ministry said.

 

China's winter wheat acreage is almost the same as last year's - around 18 million hectares. This meant the snowstorm affected 3.2 percent of winter wheat acreage and damaged 1 percent.

 

The country will largely expand spring rapeseed crop acreage, acreage of other oilseeds such as soy, peanuts, sesame seed and sunflower seed crops to guarantee domestic vegetable oil supply, according to the statement.

 

Increased unit yields of the rapeseed crop would be achieved through technological measures, the ministry said.

 

It will also expand spring wheat acreage and aims to stabilize total wheat acreage at last year's level of 22.67 million hectares.

 

The country will try to prevent a reduction in wheat output this year through an increase in unit yield, it said.