Authorities in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, the country's largest producer of commodity grain, plan to further increase annual output in the coming years. The move is part of an effort to ensure national grain security.

The provincial government has decided to raise grain production to 50 million tonnes by 2012, or 10 million tonnes more than that of 2007, said Lu Chaowen, director of the Rural Department with the Heilongjiang Provincial Grain Bureau.

According to a newly-instituted plan, the government pledged to hold the grain cultivation area at 160 million mu (10.7 million hectares) in the province by 2012, Lu said.

Corn, rice, beans, potatoes and wheat are the focus of the production-boosting plan, he said.

As a granary of China, Heilongjiang has seen consecutive growth of grain output over the past five years. Production in the province reached 42.25 million tonnes this year, setting a record, statistics with the grain bureau show.

Meanwhile, as the country's largest producer of commodity grain, 74 percent of the province's grain can currently be traded, Lu said.

"Additional future grain will all be commodity grain. In this way, we can make greater contributions to national grain security," he said.

China just concluded its two-day annual central rural work conference Sunday with a pledge to give priority to maintaining stable growth of rural and agricultural development, ensuring supplies of main farm produce and increasing farmers' income in a sustainable way next year.

Earlier this month, the National Development and Reform Commission predicted the nation's grain output would increase for five straight years and reach 525 million tonnes in 2008.

To ensure grain security, the central government has repeatedly pledged to stick to the 1.8 billion mu (120 million hectares) minimum farm land line.

(Xinhua News Agency December 31, 2008)