China plans to harvest a record crop of grain this year
The production of grain in China this year may reach a record level, the National Bureau of Statistics of the People's Republic of China reported.
Significant amounts of agricultural product offers and stable development of animal husbandry laid a good foundation for the recovery of the country's economy, the head of the Bureau said on Wednesday at a press conference dedicated to the economic situation in the country for the first three quarters.
The economy is recovering from the damage caused by Covid-19 over the past three years. This year, strict measures to control Covid were lifted for the first time, and the country's GDP grew by 4.9% year-on-year in the third quarter.
The country's summer grain production fell by 0.9% year-on-year to 292.3 billion jin, or 146.13 million tons, due to adverse weather conditions, the second largest figure in history. But the autumn production is going very well thanks to the increase in the area sown and the amount of rainfall in the northern region, so the total grain harvest this year could be a record. In particular, the production of early rice amounted to 56.7 billion jin, which was 0.8% higher than last year.
The sale of pigs in the country for the first three quarters of the current year increased by 3.3% or 16.93 million heads to 537.23 million heads compared to the same period in 2022. In the first, second and third quarters, production grew by 1.7%, 3.7% and 4.7%, respectively, in annual terms.
Pork production for the specified period increased by 1.51 million tons or 3.6% to 43.01 million tons.
At the end of the third quarter, there were 442.29 million heads of pigs in the country, which is 1.66 million heads or 0.4% less than last year, and the monthly growth was 7.11 million heads or 1.6%.
Live pig prices rose by 8.3% in the first quarter, and by 8.3% in the second quarter. remained unchanged, and in the II quarter fell by 21.5% compared to last year, which made the profitability of their cultivation negative and, accordingly, reduced the demand for grain.
