July 12, 2012

China's summer grain yield climbs 2.8%

This year, China's summer grain crop gained 2.8%, or 3.56 million tonnes, to 129.95 million tonnes, compared with the output in 2011, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) stated Tuesday (July 10).

This year's output reached a level not seen since 1997, an NBS official said.

The official attributed the output growth to the stability of acreage for growing grain crops and better yields per unit area. The total acreage for growing summer grain stood at 27.58 million hectares this year, up 0.1% on-year; meanwhile, the yield per hectare reached 4,713 kg per hectare, up 2.7%.

Summer grain crops mainly include wheat and early rice in China.

Government data showed that China's grain output rose to a record high of 571.21 million tonnes in 2011. The figure represented a year-on-year increase of 4.5% and marked the eighth consecutive year of growth for the country's grain output.