China will relaunch a program to increase grain production by 50 million tons, according to information from the Chinese government.
Beijing initiated a program in 2009 to increase the grain harvest by the same amount and achieved it in 2012, when total production was almost 590 million tons.
As the 2015 grain harvest has stabilized at around 650 million tons, the target now is to reach (no target date) 700 million tons.
The amended seed law, which came into force almost a year ago and aims to improve seed quality and diversity, also supports the food security target for higher yields and solve the problem of having to feed 20% of the world’s population with only 7% of its arable land.
Grain production
China released its «core document number one» for 2023 on February 13 of that year, outlining nine tasks to comprehensively promote rural vitalization this year.
Ensuring food security remains the priority task of the number one core document from 2021 (the food self-sufficiency rate was 76.8% in 2020 and is actually expected to fall to 65% in 2035, according to Du Ying, former deputy director of the National Development and Reform Commission).
Poverty
According to the Chinese government, the new round of action to increase grain production capacity by 50 million tons aims to better meet domestic food needs by strengthening agricultural infrastructure, improving support for modern agricultural technology and equipment, and developing efficient and water-saving agriculture.
In addition, China is willing to strengthen cooperation with other countries in food security and poverty reduction to make a greater contribution to accelerating the implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
The measures taken by China to improve grain production capacity and ensure food security mainly include strengthening agricultural infrastructure, building high-level agricultural land, improving the ability of agricultural land to withstand and mitigate disasters, as well as strengthening agricultural scientific research.