Economy

China's summer harvest likely this year: vice-minister

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-03-12 17:01

BEIJING -- China is likely to reap summer harvest this year as drought has not made serious impact on production of winter wheat and summer grain, Vice-minister of Agriculture Wei Chao'an said in Beijing Saturday.

"The overall situation of summer grain production is good," Wei told reporters, referring to increased planting areas, adequate moisture before winter and good seedings.

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The continuous widespread drought, which threatened winter wheat production, has been effectively alleviated due to government's anti-drought measures and rains, he said.

"As long as we keep implementing anti-drought measures effectively, the summer harvest is likely," he said.

However, it is "too early to tell if China will continue to see an increased grain output this year", as autumn grain production accounts for a major part, he said.

China's grain output rose 2.9 percent year on year to 546.41 million tons in 2010, marking the seventh consecutive year of growth for China's grain output.

"The government will try every means to maintain grain output above 500 million tons this year," Wei said.