May 22, 2007

China's Heilongjiang plants soybeans in 80 percent of planned acreage
 

Heilongjiang province, China's largest soybean growing region, planted 2.83 million hectares of soybeans as of mid-May, or 80 percent of the planned acreage, the Dalian Commodity Exchange cited China Food Network as saying Tuesday.

The province also planted 3.69 million hectares of corn or 110.6 percent of the planned acreage, it said.

China will plant 8.6 million hectares of soybeans in 2007, down 5.5 percent from a year earlier, according to the China National Grain and Oils Information Centre's recent monthly forecast for acreage and output of agricultural products.

China is expected to plant 27.6 million hectares of corn this year, up 2.5 percent on- year, the think-tank said.