1st LD-Writethru: China confident of food self-sufficiency: report

China is confident the nation's "rice bowl" will be firmly held in its own hands, an industry report said on Monday.

China will remain self-sufficient in its main food crops and food consumption will have guaranteed security by the end of the next decade, according to the China Agricultural Outlook Report (2015-2024).

Compiled by the Ministry of Agriculture, the annual report forecasts trends for major agricultural products in China for the next ten years.

The report said agricultural production will develop stably, supply and demand will remain balanced and consumption will grow fast over the next decade.

It predicted that rice output in the next decade will total more than 200 million tonnes while domestic rice consumption in 2024 will hit 145 million tonnes.

The output of grain will hit 129 million tonnes in 2024, up 2.5 percent from 2014, and the total grain consumption in 2024 will reach 132 million tonnes in 2024 with average annual growth of 0.6 percent.

There will be a robust growth in meat consumption while growth in poultry and eggs is expected to be mild.

China is also facing unprecedented challenges to achieve sustained and stable development in agriculture, said the report, citing rising costs, impaired cultivation and limited arable land and fresh water.

To solve the problems, China must accelerate agricultural modernization to raise quality and efficiency of agriculture, continue to transform the pattern of agricultural development to attain intensive and sustainable growth, the report said.

China has made great progress in rural development in 2014 with grain output growing for the 11th year in a row last year, reaching 607 million tonnes. Endit