The supply of grain in Guangdong province is stable, the province's grain administration and agricultural department said yesterday.

The province has sufficient reserves to feed its people for five months, the authorities said.

They denied a report published earlier this month by China Economic Weekly that said Guangdong is facing the biggest grain deficiency in the country - as much as 24 million tons a year.

The provincial administration of grain released a report last week on current supplies and prices.

Grain storage in Guangzhou is sufficient to meet the city's demand for 10 days, while Shenzhen's storage is enough for 25 days, the report said.

Guangdong has maintained its maximum grain productivity, 14 million tons a year, for many years. This amount accounts for 40 percent of the province's demand.

About 24 million tons of grain are imported from other provinces, such as Hunan, Guangxi, Jiangxi, Anhui and Jilin, the administration said.

Guangdong has also signed a number of cooperative agreements with other provinces to import further grain, the administration said.

Last year, the province produced 12.85 million tons of grain and bought 25 million tons.

Guangdong has very limited cultivated land for grain, Cheng Ganrong, a publicity official with the province's agricultural department, said.

The province, which mainly focuses on industry, has just 2 million hectares of cultivated land, he said.

"The situation this year is very similar to the ones we have faced in the past," Cheng said.

"Our reserevs are sufficient and the price is stable.

"It is not necessary for people to hoard grain," he said.

Last month, the price of a 50-kg bag of rice, wheat or corn was between 75.90 yuan ($10.80) and 86.90 yuan, up about 4 percent on equivalent prices in October.

Li Min, vice-director of the grain administration, said: "The increase in price is encouraging more farmers to plant rice in the province."

(China Daily April 15, 2008)