China produces less summer crops than last year's record

BEIJING - China produced less summer farm produce in 2016 than last year's record, but still the second highest amount in history, official figures show on Tuesday.

Output reached 139 million tons this year, down 1.2 percent, or 1.62 million tons, from that in 2015, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said.

The drop resulted mainly from climatic factors, said NBS senior statistician Hou Rui.

The total area under summer crops was unchanged from last year. Yield per hectare was 5,040 kg, down 1.2 percent from last year.

China's summer produce includes wheat, maize, barley, broad beans, peas, lima beans, potatoes and sweet potatoes.

China has only 9 percent of the world's arable land and 6.5 percent of its fresh water but produces a quarter of the world's grain and feeds nearly one-fifth of the world population.