Eyeing food security, China strengthens domestic grain supply

CHANGSHA/HARBIN - The passing of Chunfen, or the spring equinox, on March 20, signaled the start of China's busy spring farming season, with modern farm machinery working full tilt at plowing and other essential tasks.

Strenuous efforts nationwide are being made to guarantee the country's grain security amid the global climbing up of grain prices.

With increasing investment in agricultural science and technology and the promotion of superior grain varieties, China has shown great confidence in guaranteeing stable domestic production and supply amid uncertainties in the external environment.

Of late, rumbling farming machines have been shuttling back and forth on a little patch of arable land at the juncture of Dashiwan and Huayuandong villages, in the city of Yiyang, in central China's Hunan Province.

Thanks to the local farmland protection and supervision authorities, the arable land, once converted into a fishpond for leisure fishing, has once again witnessed the bustling activity of spring farming.

Since 2020, Yiyang has vigorously expanded its arable land for agricultural production, adding over 342 hectares.

Similar basic guarantee measures to ensure that spring farming proceeds in good time have been rolled out across the country.

Heilongjiang Beifeng Agricultural Means of Production Corporation has a market share of about 50 percent in the province's fertilizer market.

The price of fertilizers has been on the rise this year, generally up over 30 percent compared to the previous year, especially potash fertilizers, which have doubled during the period, said Liu Yanming, the company's general manager.

In response to the rising prices of relevant production materials, the central government has allocated 20 billion yuan (3.14 billion U.S. dollars) to issue one-time subsidies to the farmers growing grain across the country. The country also released 1 million tonnes of national potash fertilizer reserves to the domestic market to meet production needs during this year's spring farming period.