February 27, 2004
China's 2003 Oilseed Crop Output down 3.2%
China's oilseed crop output in 2003 was 3.2% lower than that of 2002, as the higher production of rapeseed was more than offset by the reduction of peanut production, according to official statistics from the National Bureau of Statistics of China, or NBS, at its Chinese-language Web site.
This is the final Chinese production figure for 2003.
In 2003, China's rapeseed output was pegged at 11.41 million metric tons, 8.1% higher than the output in 2002, while the peanut output was 13.37 million tons, 9.8% lower on year, said NBS.
The production pattern in 2003 is just the opposite to that of 2002. In 2002, the oilseed crop production was 1.2% higher than the previous year's production because the 7.1% drop of rapeseed production more than offset the increase of 3.7% in peanut production.
Total grain production in 2003 is pegged at 430.67 million tons, 26.39 million tons, or 5.8%, lower than the production in 2002, NBS said.
