China is likely to see its summer grains harvest rise for the fourth year in a row despite drought, frost and pests, but bad weather could still reduce output for the full year, the Agriculture Ministry said on Monday.
"We still face quite a lot of difficulties and problems to achieve stable development of grain production for the whole year," Agriculture Minister Sun Zhengcai said during an inspection trip to the northern province of Hebei, a major wheat-producing region.
He mentioned drought in corn-growing areas in the north, and flooding in rice areas in the south. Unfavourable weather has helped cut the country's winter crop, including rapeseed. Some industry officials estimated the 2007 rapeseed crop might have shrunk to less than 9 million tonnes from 12.7 million tonnes last year.
But winter wheat output is expected to rise 0.3 percent to 99.60 million tonnes, despite drought, state-owned China National Grain and Oils Information Centre (CNGOIC) said this month, citing better-than-usual yields.
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