Food security is one of the eight key tasks of the Chinese Communist Party authorities’ economic work in 2021. In an interview with official media outlet Xinhua, Tang Renjian, the new minister of agriculture, recently said that seeds and arable land are the two main keys to food security, and that it is important to ensure that Chinese people’s rice bowls are filled mainly with Chinese grain, which should be produced mainly with Chinese seeds.
Bloomberg reported on Jan. 4 that after China’s grain imports soared to unprecedented levels, the Communist Party’s agricultural authorities pledged to expand domestic crop production and strengthen programs to ensure crop and food security.
In an exclusive interview with the official media outlet Xinhua on Jan. 3, Tang Renjian, the new Chinese Communist Party minister of agriculture who took office on Dec. 2, 2020, said food security is one of eight key tasks for economic work in 2021, with two key points being seeds and arable land.
Tang Renjian said, “seeds are the ‘chip’ of agriculture, arable land is the ‘lifeblood’ of food production, and only when these two essentials are grasped can we fundamentally ensure national food security from the ground up. “
A report on the website of the Communist Party’s Ministry of Agriculture shows that the new Communist Party agriculture minister, Tang Renjian, has pledged to increase the production of locally grown rice, wheat, soybeans and corn, while preventing the loss of farmland.
Tang Renjian said maintaining stable food production will be a priority over the next five years, a major economic and political goal for 2021 to 2025.
Tang Renjian added, “We must ensure that Chinese people’s rice bowls are filled primarily with Chinese grain, and Chinese grain should be grown primarily using Chinese seeds.”
China’s corn imports soar in 2020, and like soybeans, China is expected to become the world’s largest buyer of corn. Currently, China imports about 60 percent of global trade in soybeans.
Bloomberg reports that in order to achieve its goal of food self-sufficiency, Communist authorities plan to expand corn-growing areas primarily in the northeast and along the Yellow River, while stabilizing soybean production. As for rice, the Communist Party’s agricultural authorities will work to increase production while maintaining double-season rice production in the south.
The Ministry of Agriculture is working with local governments to improve subsidy policies and compensation mechanisms for grain farmers, and plans to restore wheat acreage in northern and northwestern China, Tang said. Tang was formerly governor of Gansu province.
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