China's output of summer grains rose 7 percent this year, creating worries that falling prices would erode farmers' incomes and lead to less planting in the future, the official Economic Daily said on Tuesday.
Summer grains output reached 113.8 million tonnes this year, up 7 percent, or 7.4 million tonnes, from last year, the paper said without quoting any source or giving a breakdown by crop.
Summer grains, which make up one-fifth of China's total grain production, mainly consist of winter wheat, which was planted in October and harvested in May and June. China has had a bumper wheat harvest so far this year, which has pressured prices and opened the possibility of large-scale exports.
"The increase in the first half of the year leads people to surmise that there may be difficulty in raising grains output for the second half and full year," said the newspaper, which is affiliated with the State Council, China's cabinet.
"This year, the weather has been poorer and pests and diseases many; market pressure on grains prices has been rather heavy, and there are indications that in some areas grains are being neglected; all this could impact negatively on the harvest this autumn and next year."
China has eliminated grains taxes and subsidised seeds, among other incentives, to reverse declining grains production and help narrow the gap between the countryside and the booming cities. But those incentives and near-perfect weather led to two years of bumper harvests, perversely undermining grains prices and threatening farmers with poorer returns.
Wheat prices were 4 percent lower in the first half of the year, and beans prices were 5.4 percent lower, the Xinhua news agency reported in July, citing the Statistics bureau. Paddy rice crept up by 0.5 percent and corn by a mere 0.4 percent.
Most Chinese farmers diversify their incomes, but while vegetable prices were up 11.6 percent and fruit prices up 18.3 percent in the first half, meat and poultry producers were hit by a surge in large pig farms and outbreaks of bird flu.
Hog prices dropped 20.2 percent, poultry prices fell 7 percent and egg prices fell 7.3 percent, Xinhua said. Meanwhile, high international oil prices have lifted the cost to farmers of diesel, fertiliser and pesticides.
"Every type of subsidy has been basically exhausted. In the second half of the year there is not much room to further increase farmers' incomes," the article said, calling for further development of the countryside.