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Summary

Structural adjustment for agricultural production was enhanced. Thanks to the consecutive four years of bumper harvest during the Ninth Five-Year Plan period, there was a balance between general supply and demand, with a surplus of grain in good years. Therefore, various localities drastically adjusted the structure of farm crops according to market demand. The area planted to cash crops increased, with its proportion in the total sown area of farm crops exceeding 30 percent for the first time.

The output of grain reduced by a large margin, while the product mix was optimized. Influenced by severe droughts and reduction of sown area, the total output of grain for the whole year was 462.51 million tons, a decrease of 9 percent from the previous year. Of this total, the output of summer grain was 107.5 million tons, down 9.3 percent; that of early rice 37.47 million tons, down 8.5 percent; and autumn grain 317.54 million tons, down 9 percent.

Of the major cash crops, the output of cotton and oil-bearing crops increased and that of sugar decreased. Due to the noticeable recovery of domestic textile industry, the demand for cotton increased, resulting in rise of market price of cotton. Farmers were thus enthusiastic for planting cotton. The sown area of cotton increased 300,000 hectares over the previous year, up 8.1 percent, with the output for the whole year totaling 4.35 million tons, up 13.6 percent. The output of oil crops was 29.5 million tons, up 13.4 percent. The sown area of sugar decreased, with the output of sugar for the year being 74.5 million tons, down 10.6 percent from 1999.

Vegetable production grew fast amid structural adjustment. The sown area for the whole year totaled 14.7 million hectares, up 10.1 percent over the previous year. The product mix of vegetables was further optimized with more quality, special and fine varieties.

The animal husbandry progressed steadily. Due to sharp decrease in price of fodder and comparatively stable prices for pigs since rebounding in the second half of 1999, the economic returns of pig raising increased, leading to steady growth of pig production. The production of beef, mutton and poultry maintained fast growth. The total output of meat reached 62.7 million tons, up 5.4 percent over the previous year.

Fishery industry developed steadily. The total output of aquatic products for the whole year stood at 42.9 million tons, up 4.1 percent over 1999.

Forestry production kept its momentum of development due to the initiation of natural forest protection project and intensified endeavor to restore cultivated land to forests or grassland in the central and western regions. The afforested area in 2000 totaled 5.16 million hectares, including 710,000 hectares restored from cultivated land, up 5.3 percent and 9.2 percent respectively.

Construction of farmland irrigation and water conservancy works was further enhanced. Over 800,000 hectares were converted to farmland with effective irrigation system in 2000.