International, September 23: Autumn grain accounts for the largest share of China’s total annual grain output. Last June, Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Dezhou in Shandong Province. After learning about the good harvest of summer grain, he encouraged farmers with delight, saying, “We also have high hopes for the autumn grain harvest. Let us strive for another bumper harvest this year.”

In the first year of the 15th Five-Year Plan, all sectors worked together to overcome numerous challenges, including the widespread delay in sowing winter wheat, heavy rainfall and flooding. Summer grain production exceeded 300 billion jin (one jin is equivalent to half a kilogram) for the first time; early rice production remained stable; and autumn grain production was generally positive, indicating the prospect of another bumper harvest.

Xi Jinping said that China is a major country with a huge population, and resolving food security issues has always been given the highest priority in governing the country. “We must not relax our efforts in grain production,” he said.

He has visited fields and farms in various parts of the country on numerous occasions.

In September 2018, shortly after China’s Farmers’ Harvest Festival, Xi Jinping visited the Jiansanjiang State Farm Bureau in Heilongjiang Province.

In July 2020, he visited a cornfield in Lishu County, Siping City, Jilin Province. At the time, he said that efforts must be made to strengthen measures for preventing and controlling pests and diseases to ensure a good autumn harvest.

In June 2022, he visited rice fields in Yongfeng Village, Taihe Township, Dongpo District, Meishan City, Sichuan Province. During the visit, he emphasized the development of the agricultural industry.

In the spring of 2024, Xi Jinping visited a comprehensive demonstration area in Kangchongping Village, Xiejiafu Township, Dingcheng District, Changde City, Hunan Province.

The 15th Five-Year Plan has laid out a special framework for comprehensively improving agricultural production capacity and quality, while specific measures have been adopted to strengthen food security.

In the future, demand for grain will continue to rise, while maintaining a balance between supply and demand will become increasingly difficult. A complex and challenging international environment, along with frequent extreme weather events, will create obstacles to increasing grain production. Xi Jinping said it is necessary to strengthen the integration of agriculture with science and technology and enhance cooperation between agricultural bases and research institutions. Advanced and applicable varieties, technologies and equipment should be actively promoted to ensure continuous improvements in yields and efficiency.

Meanwhile, he said methods for ensuring the incomes of grain farmers should be improved, and policies integrating prices, subsidies and insurance should be further refined.

Source: Chai, Alim, Wang Haiman, China Media Group.