May 16, 2008

Soy planting in China's Heilongjiang up 7.6 percent, corn to remain stable

Farmers in China's Heilongjiang province, the nation's top grain producer, intend to cultivate 3.8 million hectares of soy this year, up 7.6 percent from the 3.53 million hectares they planted last year, a provincial official, citing results from an earlier survey said.

Soy planting is 93 percent complete.

Meanwhile, planting of corn in Heilongjiang, also a major corn producing province, has been completed in what could be 3.47 million hectares, according to the survey of farmers' intentions, the official said. The planned corn acreage in the province would be around the same level as last year.