Miller Magazine Issue 107 / November 2018

32 MILLER / NOVEMBER 2018 NEWS According to the National Bureau of Statistics of Chi- na (NBS), total nationwide grain production in summer 2018 was 138.72 million tons, representing a net dec- rease of 3.06 million tons, or 2.2 percent, from 2017, the Epoch Times reports. The production of summer grain per unit area was 5,194.9 kilograms (about 11,500 pounds) per hectare, or a reduction of 1.6 per- cent when compared with 2017. According to the official website of the State Grain and Material Reserve Bureau, as of Sept. 25, the total harvest of wheat in principal agricultural regions was 48.139 million tons, a year-on-year decline of 22.406 million tons, or almost 47 percent. In primary produ- ction areas, the long-grained rice harvest was 7.689 million tons, a year-on-year decrease of 1.155 million tons, or 15 percent. For rapeseed, the total was 1.104 million tons, a year-on-year decline of 137,000 tons. China is a major food importer. Even in ideal circums- tances, its domestic food production falls far short of meeting demand. China’s General Administration of Customs announced at the beginning of this year that China imported a total of 130.62 million tons of grain in 2017, an increase of 13.9 percent since 2016 and a record high. Among them, total imports of soybeans were 95.53 million tons, net imports of rice stood at 4.03 million tons, wheat at 4.42 million tons, and corn at 2.83 million tons. Meanwhile, in the same year, Chi- nese grain exports totaled 2.8 million tons. According to the World Bank, China’s total grain demand will reach 670 million tons in 2020 and 700 million tons in 2030. Even if China can maintain its historical peak harvest of 620 million tons, it will still encounter grain shortages. The decreases in production bode ill for China, who are in a long-term trade conflict with the United States, one of China’s biggest econo- mic partners. Chinese grain production down this summer China’s summer grain yields dropped by more than 3 million tons this year compared with 2017, representing a significant dec- rease in production, at a time when Beijing aims to reduce its reliance on imports from the United States. India raised the price at which it buys new-season wheat from local farmers by 105 rupees, or 6 percent, the farm minister said, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi tries to defuse discontent among farmers ahe- ad of elections in 2019. The revised purchase price of 1,840 rupees ($25.09) per 100 kg for 2019 compares with 1,735 rupees a year ago, Farm Minister Radha Mohan Singh said. India, the world’s second-biggest rice and wheat producer, buys the grain from local far- mers at state-set prices to build stocks to run a major food welfare programme. The government also raised support price of chickpea and rapeseed to 4,620 and 4,200 rupees respectively, per 100 kg, Singh added. India’s foodgrain production during the crop year that ended in June is expected to be a record 284.83 million tons. The previous record grain output was 275.11 million tons in the 2016-17 crop year. Wheat output has been pegged at a record 99.7 MT, rice at 112.91 MT, and pulses at 25.23 MT for the 2017-18 crop year. India raises wheat price by 6 pct