Structural adjustment for crop production continued in 2002. In line with changes in the market, the area of grain cultivation in the year was 103.99 million hectares, a decrease of 2.09 million hectares compared with that in the previous year, and the area of cotton cultivation was 4.18 million hectares, a decrease of 630,000 hectares. The area of oil-bearing crops rose by 240,000 hectares to reach 14.87 million hectares, that of sugar crops increased by 150,000 hectares to reach 1.8 million hectares and that for vegetables rose by 880,000 hectares to reach 17.28 million hectares.

The production of major farm crops increased, including grain, oil-bearing crops and sugar crops. The output of vegetables continued to grow with better variety and quality, while the production of cotton decreased due to significant reduction in the cultivation acreage. The total output of grain in 2002 was 457.11 million tons, up 1 percent over the previous year.

Steady progress was seen in animal husbandry and fishery. The total output of meat for the year reached 65.9 million tons, up 4 percent. The total output of aquatic products was 45.13 million tons, up 3 percent.

Forestry and water conservancy made new progress. The total afforested area in 2002 was 7.47 million hectares, up 51 percent. Of this total, the afforested area through "grain for green" projects was 5.4 million hectares. A total 3,576 km of embankment along the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River and 982 km of embankment along the lower reaches of the Yellow River were reinforced and attained anti-flood standards. Over 900,000 hectares of land were converted into farmland with effective irrigation system, and water-saving irrigation system was built on another 1.4 million hectares of farmland. A comprehensive land recovery program was applied to over 4 million hectares of erosion-damaged areas.