December 31, 2010

China seeks to lift self-sufficiency rate in key agri commodities

Over the next five years, China hopes to raise its self-sufficiency level for some important agricultural commodities.

Realising its targets will not be easy as China's grain output growth is at the mercy of weather, while the expansion of farmland is limited by rapid urbanisation and yields are constrained by a lack of irrigation infrastructure.

Only 50% of China's farmland is effectively irrigated and about 70% of the nation's farmland is low- to medium-yielding.

China will try to raise its self-sufficiency rate for vegetable oils beyond the 40% level - the government's threshold for national food security, between 2011 and 2015 - while boosting output of oilseeds to 35 million tonnes, the Ministry of Agriculture said on Thursday (Dec 30).

The self-sufficiency rate is currently around 34%, according to the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences.

China's oilseed output this year is expected to exceed 31.5 million tonnes, steady on-year, said Vice Minister Wei Chaoan.

The area planted to corn, soy and rice will be increased, while wheat yields must be enhanced, he said.

China lost about 50 million tonnes of grain due to natural disasters and 25 million tonnes due to insect damage in 2010, about 14% of the nation's total grain output of 546.4 million tonnes, Wei said.

China will allocate a larger share of its fixed-asset investment budget to rural infrastructure such as irrigation, the central government said on December 23, following the conclusion of its annual Central Rural Work Conference.