China's grain output rises for 11th year

China's grain output this year rose 0.9 per cent from 2013 to 607.1 million tonnes, marking the 11th successive year of growth, official figures showed.
According to the data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the 0.9-per cent growth followed a 2.1-per cent rise registered in 2013 when the total grain production was 601.94 million tonnes.
Hou Rui, a senior NBS statistician, said stable government policies toward agriculture, effective enforcement of policies and measures as well as technology contributed to the rise.
"Since the beginning of this year, the central government has rolled out a raft of favourable support policies including timely allocations of budget subsidies to boost agricultural production," said Hou.

The latest figure marked grain output growth for the 11th year in a row since 2004.
The output rise was also the result of expansion of total acreage area for grain crops this year, amid measures taken to re-adjust crop types.

Hou said some central China regions, for instance, have cut cotton farming so that more land became available for grain crops.
The total size of the arable land for grain crops stood at 112,738,000 hectares this year, up 783,000 from a year ago, state-run Xinhua news agency reported citing the NBS data.
Hou said the country has also increased subsidies to promote wider application of technology in grain production, resulting in an output rise per unit of arable land.

Heilongjiang, Henan, and Shandong provinces ranked the top three grain producers in the country this year.