June 1, 2012

China's major grain growers begin winter-wheat harvest

The major grain growers in China, such as the provinces of Anhui and Henan, have started to gather winter-sown wheat for this summer.

A ceremony was held in Anhui province on Thursday to kick off nationwide harvesting of the wheat crop.

An official from the Henan Provincial Department of Agriculture predicted that the region's winter-sown wheat is expected to register a record harvest in nine years this summer.

Plantings of key summer crops have been playing a critical role in China's crops output, thought summer crops' yield only accounts for less than a quarter of the nation's total amount in a year.

According to data from China's Ministry of Agriculture, winter-sown wheat yield accounted for around 87.8% of the total summer crops amount in 2011.

Meanwhile, the nationwide growing acreage for winter-sown wheat is around 22.67 million hectares this year, a rise of 50,000 hectares from the previous year.