BEIJING: China’s 2022 soyabean crop jumped almost 24%, while corn and wheat output also saw small increases, official data showed on Monday. Rice output, however, fell 2% to 208.5 million tonnes due to declining acreage and severe drought and high temperatures in southern China that hurt yields, said the National Statistics Bureau. Wheat output rose 0.6% from a year earlier to 137.72 million tonnes.

China issued a series of policies this year to promote higher production of soyabeans, including double-cropping with corn, amid concerns the country was too reliant on imports.

Soyabean output rose 23.7% to 20.3 million tonnes, as the acreage planted with the oilseed jumped 21.7%. High temperatures and rainy weather in Northeast China also helped soyabean yields, said Ma Wenfeng, senior analyst at the Beijing Orient Agribusiness Consultant Co Ltd, in a report ahead of the data’s release.

The increase brought production back to slightly higher than 2020 when output reached 19.6 million tonnes. The crop had shrunk last year after record corn prices encouraged farmers to plant more corn instead.

Corn output was up 1.7% to 277.2 million tonnes, even as the acreage sown with corn shrank slightly and less high-yield corn was planted due to the change in planting more soyabeans, said the bureau.

Good weather across the northern China region increased corn production in a major growing area, more than compensating for a hit to output in the parched south.