A farmer drives a farming machinery to harvest rice at a family farm in Jiutai District of Changchun, northeast China's Jilin Province, Sept. 20, 2022. Autumn harvest has recently started at the rice-growing areas across the province. (Xinhua/Yan Linyun)

China's agriculture ministry vowed to prioritize agricultural disaster relief and ensure the autumn grain production amid the country's main flood season.

Responsible officials from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs stressed the importance at a meeting presided over by Minister Tang Renjian on Sunday to implement strong measures tackling disaster prevention and mitigation along with yield enhancement, aiming to fully seize the autumn grain harvest amid storm related flooding and heavy rains, in addition to a relatively severe insect issue compared with 2022, the ministry said.

When it comes to disaster prevention and mitigation, the ministry flagged establishing guidance and strengthening communication mechanisms with localities while closely monitoring and putting in place early defensive preparations in a timely manner. It also noted the need to strengthen monitoring and management to tackle crop damage linked to pests. 

The meeting also called to take concrete steps to increase the yield for main grain and oil crops, focusing on soybeans, corn, rice and other key crops during the sowing period. It also vowed to implement dedicated measures to pave a solid foundation for the harvest, while accelerating the implementation of a long-term mechanism to guide localities with clear tasks and key measures to boost yields. 

The recent extreme weather such as the widespread rainfall and the typhoons may have certain effect on the autumn grain harvest resulted by the potential flooding, especially for crops like corns, Li Guoxiang, a researcher at the Rural Development Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Monday. 

Li underscored the importance to conduct timely drainage and other measures in waterlogged regions for corn and other crops which are vulnerable to excessive water. 

As for the pests, Li also called to implement targeted measures to tackle issues related to pests, noting that the certain effect on the autumn grain harvest caused by the disasters would be limited with proper interventions.

Multiple Chinese cities recently raised emergency responses for super typhoon Doksuri. The agriculture ministry on Friday also issued a Level-III emergency response, while asking cities and provinces including Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei and other regions to strengthen monitoring and emergency response preparations. 

Amid the extreme weather, customer representatives from two local supermarkets in Beijing told the Global Times on Monday that the rainfall has not had impact on the supply of vegetables while prices remain stable.

China has achieved bumper summer grain harvest in 2023 with the total output reaching 146.13 million tons, official data showed, creating a solid foundation for maintaining year-round grain production. 

Global Times