November 10, 2010

 

China's Henan to add 50-billion-kg grain capacity

In a bid to ensure grain self-sufficiency, China has officially kicked off a project to produce an additional 50 billion kg of grain in central Henan province over the decade.

 

China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the top economic planner, last year formulated the 2009-2020 plan on adding 50 billion kg of grain production capacity.

 

As the largest grain-producing province, Henan's task is to increase annual grain production by 7.75 billion kg, which accounts for one seventh of the national target.

 

The plan involves 15 major grain producing cities and 89 major grain producing counties in Henan, which contribute to nearly 90% of the province's total output, said chief economist of the Department of Agriculture of Henan.

 

The infrastructure for the national programme on expanding grain production capacity is being jointly invested by central and local governments, said an official of the local economic planning agency.

 

This would include key water conservatory projects, the renovation of low-yielding fields, land clean-up, field projects, and the provision of agricultural technical services.

 

The central government's input into the 2010 project will account for 80% of the total, while the local government of Henan is to spend RMB160 million (US$24 million) to fund the project, which accounts for 60% of local investment. The city and county-level governments will contribute to less than 10% of the total investment. This scale of investment in rural infrastructure has been rare in recent years.

 

China's demand for grain is increasing as the Chinese population grows larger and their living standards improve. The country may face a grain shortage of 50 billion kg by 2020, according to official estimates.

 

Henan boasts one sixth of the country's land, which produces over one tenth of the country's grain. It produces a quarter of China's wheat, feeding the 100 million local population and exporting 15 billion kg of raw grain and related products to other provinces.

 

The province's grain production has been the largest in the country for 10 years running. It has witnessed successful summer-grain harvest for eight consecutive years.
 

The province has managed to stabilise the area of arable land at 118.8 mu (7.96 million hectares) and the basic farmland at 103.4 million mu (6.93 million hectares).

 

The local government has adopted a series of policies to subsidise grain production, the use of improved wheat varieties, and agricultural machinery purchase. Some RMB12 billion (US$1.8 billion) of subsidies were allocated in 2009 to support farming.

 

According to a separate plan building on core grain production areas in Henan recently approved by the NDRC, the province aims to increase its grain production capacity from the current 50 billion kg to 65 billion kg by 2020.