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

 

In 2021, China's total grain production reached 1.37 trillion jin (685 billion kg), hitting a new record high, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on Monday. The stable domestic grain production, which has remained at over 1.3 trillion jin for seven consecutive years, has provided a strong base for continued national food security.

The data revealed that the 1.37 trillion jin reading was an increase by 26.7 billion jin from 2020, a year-on-year increase of 2 percent. The autumn grain harvest accounted for 1.02 trillion jin, up 1.9 percent on a yearly basis by 19.1 billion jin. 

Even with some major grain-producing areas being impacted by extreme weather, China's total grain sowing area still grew by 12.95 million mu (863,333 hectare) with the grain yield per unit area increasing by 4.8 kilograms, an increase of 0.7 percent and 1.2 percent, respectively. 

The production of rice, wheat, corn, and potatoes all recorded gains, while bean production fell significantly. 

Stable domestic grain production ensures national food security, but also represents a means to address complex and volatile domestic and international situations, providing strong support for the country to overcome various risks and challenges, according to the NBS.