China's total yield of early season rice is 31.79 million tons in 2005, 430,000 tons down year on year with a decrease rate of 1.3 percent, said a survey released on Friday by the National Bureau of Statistics.

The plantation area of early rice reached 6.01 million hectares, 64,000 hectares more than a year before with an increase rate of 1.1 percent.

However, due to unfavorable climate factors, the per hectare yield of early rice is 5,289 kgs, 2.4 percent down year on year.

Yield reduction in offshore regions in East China and South China is highly sensitive to natural disasters such as flooding and typhoons.

South China's Guangdong Province saw a yield reduction of 490,000 tons, Hainan Province, 240,000 tons, southeastern Fujian Province, 150,000 tons and East China's Zhejiang Province, 76,000 tons.

Early rice yield rose in other regions as East China's Jiangxi Province saw a production rise of 280,000 tons, Central China's Hunan Province, 180,000 tons, and Anhui and Hubei provinces, over 80,000 tons, respectively.

(Xinhua News Agency September 16, 2005)