On the 13th of last month, farmers are harvesting wheat using a combine harvester in the fields of Binzhou, Shandong Province, China. Despite adverse factors such as the spread of COVID-19, China's summer crop production this year has been recorded to have increased slightly compared to last year.
The Chinese government encouraged increased production by implementing various support measures, including subsidies, as international food prices surged sharply due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine and droughts in major grain-exporting countries.
However, the northeastern region, a major grain-producing area, was locked down in many places in March during the sowing season due to the spread of COVID-19, and suffered from spring droughts. In the central and southern regions, heavy rains in June raised concerns about production disruptions, but these concerns proved unfounded.
On the 14th, the National Bureau of Statistics of China announced that the summer crop production in 25 provinces and cities recorded so far this year reached 147.39 million tons, an increase of 1.434 million tons compared to the same period last year.
Among these, wheat production was 135.76 million tons, up 1.286 million tons from last year.
The sown area for summer crops was 26.53 million hectares, and yield per hectare was 5,556 kg, showing increases of 0.3% and 0.6% respectively compared to last year.
China Central Television (CCTV) reported that in major wheat-producing provinces such as Jiangsu, Anhui, Henan, Shandong, and Hebei, the purchase of this year's harvested wheat has already begun, reaching 40% progress. The amount of wheat purchased so far is 31.53 million tons, an increase of 2.78 million tons compared to last year.
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