China will try to keep food supplies secure and at adequate
levels in the coming five years, which is vital because of the
country's huge population and also considered a precondition
to raise farmers' income, said Chen Yaobang, Minister of Agriculture.
He said at the
National Work Conference on Agriculture that China will face
great challenges of keeping the grain output up, considering
the growing population, shrinking cultivated land and water
shortages.
Last year's grain
output is estimated to drop by 9 percent from 1999, which
was mainly attributed to a severe drought and the government's
reduction of the grain-growing acreage in an attempt to restructure
the agricultural sector, he noted.
The Chinese government
will first focus on preventing the acreage of grain growing
areas from shrinking. Meanwhile, scientists are encouraged
to develop high-yielding grain strains.
The government
will continue buying grain from farmers at a higher price,
which has proved an effective way to urge farmers to produce
more grain, Chen said.
Also, China plans
to develop some major grain planting areas into long-term
bases for food supply, he added.
The Chinese government
has long paid great attention to its production of food and
the country has achieved good grain harvests in the past five
years, with each Chinese now having 400 kilograms of grain
on average,
Chen pointed out
that, with sufficient storage, grain supply met the demand
last year though output has dropped.
(People's Daily
01/07/2001)
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