December 30, 2005

China's grain output will fall short of demand
 

China's Minister of Agriculture Du Qinglin said the expected domestic grain output in 2005 of about 480 million tonnes would still fall short of demand in 2006, by 15 million tonnes.

He estimated that domestic grain demand would reach 495 million tonnes next year.

Du said the shortfall in supplies would be narrowed from 50 million tonnes in 2003 to 15 million tonnes in 2006, but the gap would still exist.

He attributed the shortfall problem to an imbalanced availability of different grain varieties.

The agriculture ministry said that in 2005, China's wheat and corn production would reach 97.5 million tonnes and 134.5 million tonnes respectively.

According to Du, domestic grain demand is expected to rise by five million tonnes annually. Thus, the country needed new methods to increase domestic grain output further to meet demand, while not depending too much on imports.