China’s Vice Premier Liu Guozhong has called for urgent measures to safeguard the nation’s grain output after continuous rainfall in the key Huang-Huai-Hai agricultural region severely disrupted autumn harvesting. Liu emphasized that China must do “everything possible” to meet its annual grain production target of around 700 million tons.
Autumn crops account for about 75% of China’s total grain output. The Huang-Huai-Hai region — covering the provinces of Shandong, Henan, Hebei, and Jiangsu — is the country’s main summer corn and winter wheat belt. Farmers are now racing against time to salvage their crops during this critical harvest window.
According to state broadcaster CCTV, farmers and agricultural enterprises are deploying grain-drying equipment to prevent spoilage of wet harvests, while the Ministry of Agriculture has dispatched four special task teams to coordinate emergency harvesting operations.
To support affected regions, the Chinese government has allocated about $68 million to seven provinces, including those in the Huang-Huai-Hai area, where prolonged rains have hampered both harvesting and drying. Persistent wet weather also threatens to delay winter wheat sowing, potentially affecting next year’s output.
Liu urged local authorities to ensure adequate supplies of seeds and fertilizers, and to guide farmers in adopting moisture-resistant winter wheat planting techniques to maintain timely and sufficient sowing. No official damage estimates have been released so far.
