According to statistics from the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture, China's acreage under grain plants dropped to a record low of some 107 million hectares last year, a decrease of approximately 6 million hectares from 1999.
To ensure the balance between supply and demand, China needs to keep the acreage under grain plants at around 110 million hectares, says an official in the ministry, adding steps will be taken this year to prevent a further reduction.
Despite the sharp reduction in grain output, China last year managed to keep the market equilibrium with sufficient grain reserve.
However, experts indicate that if the acreage under grain plants continues to decrease, a grain shortage will threaten China.
According to the official, a series of measures are to be taken to ensure the national grain security in the coming five years, such as building more commodity grain bases, improving the agricultural infrastructure, and growing more high-yielding grain strains.
(Eastday.com.cn 01/27/2001)
