November 8, 2011

China will set up an investment system to facilitate the development of science and technology on agriculture, vice agriculture minister Zhang Taolin said Sunday (Nov 6).

The development of science and technology is key to ease the pressure on China's agriculture, especially on grain production, Zhang said.

In the 2011-2015 period, China will face the enormous pressure and challenges with surging grain demand, rising cost of agricultural production and limited land and water resources, Zhang said.

China will explore new models and new systems to further increase investment and upgrade its service efficiency on agricultural production, he added.

China's grain output rose 2.9% on-year to 546.61 million tonnes in 2010. And the contribution rate of the science and technology development to the country's agriculture reached 52%, which was higher than other factors such as land, labour and material investment.

China will further increase total investment and put more into the integrated layout of investment on science and technology on agriculture, Zhang said.