China will produce a bigger summer grains harvest this year than it did in 2004 if there is no weather damage in the next 15 days, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Monday. It did not give any forecast for the harvest, which makes up one fifth of the country's total grain production. China harvested 101 million tonnes of summer grains in 2004, a rise of 4.8 percent from 2003. Summer grains mainly consist of winter wheat, which was planted in October and harvested in May and June.
China National Grain and Oils Information Centre predicted winter wheat output was likely to rise 5.0 percent to 89 million tonnes this year as farmers shifted to grow more with direct subsidies from the government and better prices last year.
Xinhua said acreage sowed to top-quality winter wheat was seen at 10.7 million hectares, up 18.5 percent from last year. Government offered 1.0 billion yuan ($121 million) in subsidies to wheat growers in 11 major production areas this year, up from last year's 100 million yuan, it said.
The better crop prospect had pushed down domestic wheat prices for the first time in 10 months. April prices fell 1.01 percent from March, but were still up 2.06 percent from a year, said the ministry at its Web site (www.agri.gov.cn).
"The task of stabilising China's grain supply is challenging but possible," says the ministry. Grain administration had ordered state granaries to suspend sales of stocks to stabilise prices in order to protect farmers' interests.
China is expecting its summer-harvested rapeseed to fall by 11 percent from last year to 11.6 million tonnes in 2005, according to the centre.