The area sown to grain crops increased to some extent. In 2004, the sown area of grain was 101.61 million hectares, an increase of 2.2 million hectares as compared with that in the previous year, and that of cotton was 5.69 million hectares, an increase of 580,000 hectares. The sown area of oil-bearing crops was 14.52 million hectares, a decline of 470,000 hectares; that of sugar crops was 1.57 million hectares, a decrease of 90,000 hectares; and that for vegetables stood at 17.67 million hectares, a decline of 290,000 hectares.

The production of major farm crops increased, except that for sugar crops. The total output of grain in 2004 was 469.47 million tons, up 38.77 million tons or 9 percent over the previous year. The output of cotton was 6.32 million tons, an increase of 30.1 percent; and that of oil-bearing crops was 30.57 million tons, up 8.8 percent. The output of sugar crops was 95.28 million tons, a decrease of 1.2 percent. Steady progress was seen in vegetable and fruits production due to expanded use of high quality varieties.

The animal husbandry and fishery industries progress steadily. The total output of meat for the year 2004 reached 72.6 million tons, up 4.7 percent. Of this total, the output of beef and mutton was up 7.9 percent and 10.6 percent, respectively. The total output of aquatic products was 48.55 million tons, up 3.2 percent.

The area of farmland with effective irrigation system increased. Over 980,000 hectares of land were converted into farmland with effective irrigation system; another 1.3 million hectares of land were guaranteed by water-saving irrigation system.