Farmers harvest early rice in Yongfeng, East China's Jiangxi Province on Tuesday. In the heat of the summer rush, farmers are busy harvesting 420,000 mu (28,000 hectares) of mature early rice to ensure that these summer grains are put into silos. China has set a grain harvest goal of 650 million metric tons and has achieved the target for six years in a row. Photo: VCG

China's summer grain output hit 145.82 million tons, up 2.1 percent from the previous year, creating a solid foundation to maintain full-year grain output above 650 million tons, said National Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday.

The total output of summer grain in China hit 145.82 million tons, an increase of 2.967 million tons or 2.1 percent over 2020. Among them, wheat output hit 134.34 million tons, an increase of 2.589 million tons or 2.0 percent, said NBS based on the research on 25 major harvesting regions. 

The tally was attributed to 1.1 percent growth in the average yield per hectare as well as an increase in total area for growing summer crops, according to the NBS.

The bumper summer grain harvest this year was partly due to supportive policies, the increase in the minimum purchase price of wheat and the stabilization of farmers' grain subsidies, said Li Suoqing, an official with NBS.

Since last year, the increase in grain prices and farmers' income from growing grain has stabilized market expectations and increasing farmers' willingness to sow, Li said.

Favorable weather condition, strengthened efforts in farm pests and diseases prevention as well as improvement in scientific and standardized sowing process also helped to boost the yield, Li added.

In 2021, China's summer grain yield per unit area has increased by 57.4 kilogram per hectare or 1.1 percent compared with 2020, increasing for three consecutive years.