China's support for food production will strengthen, says premier

CHINA’S policy support for food production will strengthen, not weaken, China’s premier Li Qiang said during a visit to central Henan province, state television CCTV reported on Thursday (May 23).

Henan, one of China’s major grain production hubs, produced a total of 66.24 million metric tons of grain in 2023, accounting for 9.5 per cent of the country’s total, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed.

The province is also widely known as the “granary in China’s central plains”.

“We need to transform more qualified farmland into high-standard farmland...we will give the full play of the minimum purchase price to ensure that farmers could make money by growing grains,” said Li.

China needs to ensure national food security “from the source” and to help increase farmers’ incomes, Li added.

“Seed is the foundation for the modernisation of the agriculture industry, we need to promote the building of innovation platforms in the sector, strengthen the cutting-edge research on key varieties, accelerate the pace of industrialization and cultivate more seeds,” Li said.

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Beijing has set targets to drastically reduce its reliance on overseas buying over the coming decade in line with its push for food security, which will be difficult to meet as it faces land, soil and water woes.

China’s Finance Ministry on Tuesday announced the nationwide implementation of full-cost insurance and planting income insurance policies for rice, wheat and corn, to encourage planting of staple grains. REUTERS