October 17, 2007

China's 2007 grain output to top 500 million tonnes

China's total grain production is likely to exceed 500 million tonnes this year, which would mark the fourth consecutive annual growth, the country's Agriculture Minister Sun Zhengcai said Tuesday (October 16).

"The autumn harvest is likely to be good," Sun told China's Communist Party Congress without forecasting production for specific crops.

China's grain output has grown steadily from 2004 to 2006, and production totalled 497.45 million tonnes in 2006.

The latest forecast comes as China's rising food prices fuelled a 6.5 percent growth in China's consumer price index in August, which marked an 11-year high.