CHINA PLOTS MOVE TO PRODUCE MORE FOOD FOR ITS 1.4B POPULATION

China is placing greater emphasis on food security and self-reliance to feed its 1.4 billion people, its annual blueprint for rural policies says amid the pandemic, with emphasis on utilizing new agricultural technologies.

The new five-year “rural-revitalization plan” crafted by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs seeks to “speed up” innovations in its seed industry to raise crop output, Orange Wang reported for the Jack Ma-owned South China Morning Post.

Natural disasters, geopolitical disputes and global food-trade disruptions amid the pandemic have forced Beijing to reassess its approach to food security.

Despite the purported success of the hybrid rice varieties produced in Hainan, China has to grapple with at least 300-million farmers who have yet to profit immensely from the emphasis on agriculture.

Retired farmers have already resumed work owing to the very low pensions they receive while the younger farmers have tried their luck in prosperous coastal cities.

The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC-CC) and the State Council, the nation’s cabinet, published their first joint policy statement of the year on Sunday, and it requires all provincial authorities across the country to maintain stable grain-planting acreage and to increase yields to improve the supply of wheat, corn, rice, cotton, edible oils, sugar and meat during the 14th five-year plan period that runs from 2021-2025.

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