Beijing’s goal: 95pc self-reliant in grain to 2020
Global picture in 2005 forced evaluation and draft of plan
Josephine Ma in Beijing 14 November 2008
The central government has set a goal to maintain a sufficiency rate of 95 per cent until 2020 as it issued its first long- and medium-term strategic plan on grain security.
Zhang Xiaoqiang , a deputy director of the National Development and Reform Commission, said yesterday Beijing had been drafting the plan since the grain price increases in 2005, and the international grain crisis had added urgency to formulating a security strategy.
“There is a new round of international grain crises in recent years, and unrest has broken out in some countries due to food shortages,” Mr. Zhang said. “It is a warning that we should never neglect grain security at any time.
“Therefore, we must have a plan specifically to address the strategy of grain security.”
The plan, drafted by 10 ministries and departments, projected that China’s grain supply would be barely sufficient in the next 12 years, taking into account a series of measures to meet the increasing demand.
It rolls out 16 targets, including maintaining 95 per cent grain sufficiency, 120 million hectares of farmland, and expanding grain production capacity to 540 billion kilograms.
It predicts grain demand will continue to grow, with consumption per capita rising from 388kg last year to 389kg in 2010 and 395kg in 2020. That means the country will need 525 billion kilograms in 2010 and 572 billion kilograms in 2020.
China is planning to use various measures, including economic incentives to farmers and enhancing farming technology, to boost the grain production capacity to 500 million tonnes in 2010 and 540 million tonnes in 2020 to meet the 95 per cent self-sufficiency goal.
The tension to balance preserving arable land and urbanisation continues to grow. China’s farmland has dwindled at an average rate of 730,000 hectares every year from 1996 to last year.
The total area of farmland last year was 121 million hectares, and the government has vowed to keep the total size above 120 million hectares in the next 12 years.
The plan also calls for a reasonable composition of the grain reserves, with wheat and rice stocks not below 70 per cent of the total reserves.
The government has announced it would raise the minimum grain procurement prices for white wheat by 13 per cent and other two types of wheat by 15.3 per cent next year to give farmers incentives.
It will also raise the procurement for rice substantially next year, he said.
China has been using the minimum procurement price as the standard for grain prices, meaning it will buy grain at the minimum prices when the market prices fall below them.
The government is also giving out subsidies to grain farmers to boost their incentives to grow crops.
Mr. Zhang said he expected the gap between China’s grain price and international prices to continue to narrow because of the bumper harvest worldwide. International grain prices have fallen from their peak in March to levels close to China’s grain prices, he said.
Mr. Zhang also denied speculation that China was buying up farmland overseas to try to meet grain demand.
“It is by no means a massive purchase or long-term leasing of overseas land by Chinese farmers or companies,” he said.
China has sufficient rice and a surplus of wheat, but it has to rely on imports for soya beans and edible oil.
The report said the consumption of edible oils, of which China is the world’s top user, would rise from 22.5 million tonnes this year to 24.1 million tonnes in 2010 and 29 million tonnes in 2020.
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Beijing’s goal: 95pc self-reliant in grain to 2020
Global picture in 2005 forced evaluation and draft of plan
Josephine Ma in Beijing
14 November 2008
The central government has set a goal to maintain a sufficiency rate of 95 per cent until 2020 as it issued its first long- and medium-term strategic plan on grain security.
Zhang Xiaoqiang , a deputy director of the National Development and Reform Commission, said yesterday Beijing had been drafting the plan since the grain price increases in 2005, and the international grain crisis had added urgency to formulating a security strategy.
“There is a new round of international grain crises in recent years, and unrest has broken out in some countries due to food shortages,” Mr. Zhang said. “It is a warning that we should never neglect grain security at any time.
“Therefore, we must have a plan specifically to address the strategy of grain security.”
The plan, drafted by 10 ministries and departments, projected that China’s grain supply would be barely sufficient in the next 12 years, taking into account a series of measures to meet the increasing demand.
It rolls out 16 targets, including maintaining 95 per cent grain sufficiency, 120 million hectares of farmland, and expanding grain production capacity to 540 billion kilograms.
It predicts grain demand will continue to grow, with consumption per capita rising from 388kg last year to 389kg in 2010 and 395kg in 2020. That means the country will need 525 billion kilograms in 2010 and 572 billion kilograms in 2020.
China is planning to use various measures, including economic incentives to farmers and enhancing farming technology, to boost the grain production capacity to 500 million tonnes in 2010 and 540 million tonnes in 2020 to meet the 95 per cent self-sufficiency goal.
The tension to balance preserving arable land and urbanisation continues to grow. China’s farmland has dwindled at an average rate of 730,000 hectares every year from 1996 to last year.
The total area of farmland last year was 121 million hectares, and the government has vowed to keep the total size above 120 million hectares in the next 12 years.
The plan also calls for a reasonable composition of the grain reserves, with wheat and rice stocks not below 70 per cent of the total reserves.
The government has announced it would raise the minimum grain procurement prices for white wheat by 13 per cent and other two types of wheat by 15.3 per cent next year to give farmers incentives.
It will also raise the procurement for rice substantially next year, he said.
China has been using the minimum procurement price as the standard for grain prices, meaning it will buy grain at the minimum prices when the market prices fall below them.
The government is also giving out subsidies to grain farmers to boost their incentives to grow crops.
Mr. Zhang said he expected the gap between China’s grain price and international prices to continue to narrow because of the bumper harvest worldwide. International grain prices have fallen from their peak in March to levels close to China’s grain prices, he said.
Mr. Zhang also denied speculation that China was buying up farmland overseas to try to meet grain demand.
“It is by no means a massive purchase or long-term leasing of overseas land by Chinese farmers or companies,” he said.
China has sufficient rice and a surplus of wheat, but it has to rely on imports for soya beans and edible oil.
The report said the consumption of edible oils, of which China is the world’s top user, would rise from 22.5 million tonnes this year to 24.1 million tonnes in 2010 and 29 million tonnes in 2020.
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