Hard for China to see on-year rise in '09 grain output

China may find it difficult to record an on-year increase in grain output this year due to ongoing unfavorable weather conditions, an official with the Ministry of Agriculture said Thursday.

"It is a challenge for China to increase its grain output this year, as the fall season grain output will definitely not increase on year, " said Cao Liqun, an official with the Rural Economy Research Center under the ministry.

Grain output during the autumn accounts for more than 70 percent of China's total.

Floods in southern China will hit rice output, while floods and low temperature in the northeast threaten soy and corn output, he added.

China's grain output grew for the fifth year in a row until 2008.