The Chinese government has announced that it will
strive to boost corn production to 150 million tons by 2010 to meet
the booming demand for animal feed and industrial use.
China, the world's
second-biggest corn producer, will aim for at least 26.67 million
hectares of corn by 2010, said Chen Mengshan, director of the
Planting Management Bureau with the Ministry of
Agriculture.
The ministry plans to encourage farmers to plant
high-yield corn breeds, improve planting techniques, fertilization,
and use more modern technology and machinery.
Chen said on Monday the output per hectare would
increase to 5.63 tons by 2010 from an average of 5.25 tons last
year, compared with nine tons in the United States.
"China should be more self-reliant in corn supply as
international corn exports are declining," he said.
Corn prices have risen sharply since 2006 as large
amounts were brought up to produce ethanol against a backdrop of
record international oil prices.
China's farmers are expected
to plant 27.35 million hectares of corn this year, slightly higher
than the 27.05 million hectares in 2006, according to the China
National Grain and Oils Information Center.
The center predicted the nation's annual corn
consumption for 2006-2007 would reach 144.5 million tons, while
output would be 144 million tons.
(Xinhua News Agency April 11, 2007)
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