China achieves record summer grain yield

China saw a good harvest of summer grain crops this year, with its total output setting a new record, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.

A reaper harvests wheat in the fields of Pingyi County, Linyi City, east China's Shandong Province, June 8, 2021. (Xinhua/Wu Jiquan)

Summer grains are the first part of the entire year's grain production, and its success lays a solid foundation for the target of keeping the annual grain output above 1.3 trillion jin (650 million tons), said Tang Renjian, director of the Office of the Central Leading Group for Rural Affairs and minister of agriculture and rural affairs. "The bumper summer grain harvest represents our combined efforts," noted Tang.

There are two factors behind the bumper harvest. Firstly, China issued a series of supportive policies to effectively boost farmers' incentives for growing grain. Furthermore, the area of summer grains rose by more than 3 million mu (200,000 hectares) to 335 million mu, reversing the trend of decline for four consecutive years.

Secondly, various localities have ramped up the construction of high-standard farmland, rationally allocated fertilizers and water, and strengthened technical guidance. As a result, the yield is expected to increase by 3 kg per mu.

Ma Jitao, a grain grower in Dacaozhuang village, Yangzhuang town, Sanhe city, north China's Hebei Province, is pleased with his summer grain harvest this year.

Ma disclosed that the wheat grown on the more than 400 mu of land he contracted grew particularly well, with a yield of 630 kg per mu, an increase of about 100 kg over last year, and the purchase price of wheat is 2.5 yuan ($0.38) per kg, which is also much higher than that of last year.