The national grain output reached a new high The data revealed that the bumper harvest was not easy to come by

Photo: Xinhua News Agency

Yangcheng Evening News reporter Chen Zeyun

"Grain in hand, do not panic in the heart", a few days ago, the National Bureau of Statistics released data show that in 2021, the total national grain output of 1365.7 billion jin, an increase of 26.7 billion jin over the previous year, an increase of 2.0%, the annual grain output reached a new high, for 7 consecutive years to maintain more than 1.3 trillion jin. Although henan and other local areas in the second half of this year suffered from heavy rains and floods, autumn grain production has still been able to stabilize growth, data show that this year's autumn grain output of 1,017.8 billion kilograms, an increase of 19.1 billion kilograms over the previous year, an increase of 1.9%.

Behind the "Eighteen Consecutive Harvests" there has been an adjustment in the grain structure

In 2021, the total grain output of the whole year reached a new high, achieving "eighteen consecutive years of abundance", which is also the seventh consecutive year that the grain output has been stable at more than 1.3 trillion jin.

Since the beginning of this year, extreme heavy rainfall in Henan and other places has caused flood disasters, staged droughts in local areas of Shaanxi, Gansu, and Ningxia in northwest China, and continuous rainy weather in North China and the Huang-Huai-Hai region during the autumn harvest period, which has had a certain impact on autumn grain in some areas. Overall, Wang Minghua, deputy director of the Rural Department of the National Bureau of Statistics, pointed out that most of the time in the country's major agricultural areas are well matched with light and temperature and water, and meteorological conditions are generally conducive to the growth and development of grain crops and the formation of yields.

The Yangcheng Evening News reporter combed and found that the increase in total grain output this year stemmed from the increase in the national grain sown area by 12.95 million mu over the previous year, an increase of 0.7%, and the yield of grain crops increased by 4.8 kg over the previous year, an increase of 1.2%.

It is worth noting that behind the "eighteen consecutive harvests", the structure of grain production is changing.

Among them, corn as a high-yield crop, although affected by the flood disaster in Henan and other Huang-Huai-Hai regions, the yield per mu fell by 0.4% year-on-year, but the planting area increased by 5.0% year-on-year, and the output increased by 23.8 billion jin, accounting for 89.1% of the national grain output. Soybean yields are lower than that of corn, farmers' willingness to plant is weakened, and planting area has declined. Soybean sown area of 126 million mu, a decrease of 22 million mu over the previous year, down 14.8%. In 2021, the national soybean yield was 129 kg/mu, the yield per mu was 2.1 kg less than that of the previous year, down 1.6%, and the yield was 130 kg/mu, and the yield per mu was 2.3 kg less than that of the previous year, down 1.8%.

The increase in the proportion of high-yield crops has led to an increase in yields

"The area sown to high-yield crops corn has expanded, and the proportion of grain crops has increased, which has promoted an increase in food yields. According to the sampling survey of grain yield, in 2021, the national grain crop yield will be 387 kg/mu, and the yield per mu will increase by 4.8 kg over the previous year, an increase of 1.2%. Wang Minghua said.

It is worth noting that overall, this year's cereals (mainly rice, wheat, corn) this year's grain sown area of 100177.4 thousand hectares, an increase of 2.3% year-on-year, the output also showed a significant increase, in 2021, the national cereal output of 12655 billion catties, an increase of 32 billion catties over the previous year, an increase of 2.6%. Among them, the rice output was 425.7 billion jin, an increase of 2 billion jin over the previous year, an increase of 0.5%; the wheat output was 273.9 billion jin, an increase of 5.4 billion jin over the previous year, an increase of 2.0%; the corn output was 545.1 billion jin, an increase of 23.8 billion jin over the previous year, an increase of 4.6%.

The increase in the area sown to cereals is a manifestation of the remarkable results achieved in preventing "degranization". Wang Minghua pointed out that in 2021, all localities will consolidate the responsibility for grain production at all levels, implement the strictest farmland protection system, resolutely curb the "non-farming" of cultivated land, prevent "non-grainization", further increase support for grain production, support the reclamation of wasteland, develop winter idle fields, and improve farmers' enthusiasm for growing grain.

Heilongjiang sits firmly in the position of "China's Great Granary"

The data shows that in 2021, most provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) will increase grain production, and 27 of the 31 provinces will increase production, of which Xinjiang, Anhui, Hunan, Sichuan, and Shandong will increase production by more than 1 billion catties.

Which provinces are the big grain producing provinces? "Northeast ripe, the world is full". This year, the three northeastern provinces and Inner Mongolia have increased their production by a total of 18.8 billion kilograms, contributing 70.3% to the increase in national grain production. Among them, the grain output of Heilongjiang Province accounts for 11.5% of the country's total grain output, ranking first in the country for 11 consecutive years.

From the perspective of unit mu yield, although Shanghai sown an area of only 117,400 hectares and a total output of 940,000 tons in 2021, its unit area output can reach 8,004.7 kg/ha, continuing to rank first in the country, and the unit mu yield is slightly higher than last year. Beijing has the smallest sown area, only 60,900 hectares, but it ranks among the top 10 in the country with a yield per mu of 6196.8 kg/ha. In addition, Xinjiang's unit yield per mu reached 7318.8 kg/ha, ranking second. Liaoning and Jilin ranked in the top ten provinces, their unit yields of more than 6,000 kg/ha per mu, and their production efficiency is relatively high.

Although Henan's production has decreased, it still ranks second in the country

As the top two economic provinces in terms of GDP, Guangdong and Jiangsu are also mainstays in grain production. In 2021, Guangdong grain has improved in terms of sown area, output and unit mu yield, and the total grain output this year has reached 12.79 million tons, and Jiangsu, known as the hometown of fish and rice, has ranked among the top ten in the country in terms of total output and unit mu output.

It is worth noting that due to the impact of extreme heavy rainfall, Henan's production has decreased by 5.6 billion jin, but overall, Henan still ranks second in the country with a total output of 65.442 million tons, second only to Heilongjiang, laying the foundation for stabilizing the national grain output.

Wang Minghua said that the national grain harvest has been bumper again, and the grain output has been stable at more than 1.3 trillion jin for seven consecutive years, which has provided strong support for ensuring national food security, coping with the complex and changeable domestic and foreign situation, and overcoming various risks and challenges, and has laid a solid foundation for the "Fourteenth Five-Year Plan" to start well, promote high-quality economic and social development, and build a new development pattern.

Top 10 in terms of total grain production in 2021

1 Heilongjiang 78.677 million tons

2 Henan 65.442 million tons

3 Shandong 55.007 million tons

4 Anhui 40.876 million tons

5 Gilin 40.392 million tons

6 Inner Mongolia 38.403 million tons

7 Hebei 38.251 million tons

8 Jiangsu 37.461 million tons

9 Sichuan 35.821 million tons

10 Lake South 30.744 million tons

Top 10 grain production per unit area in 2021 (kg/ha)

1 Shanghai 8004.7

2 Xinjiang 7318.8

3 Liaoning 7164.4

4 Jilin 7060.1

5 Jiangsu 6902.0

6 Days Tsu 6690.3

7 Shandong 6583.7

8 Lake South 6461.0

9 Beijing 6196.8

10 Zhejiang 6167.6

Source: Yangcheng Evening News