Corn crop to be reduced

China plans to cut its corn acreage by close to 670,000 hectares in 2016, an official with the Ministry of Agriculture said on Thursday, as the country comes under mounting pressure to reduce its corn stocks.

Pan Weibo, deputy director with the Department of Crop Production under the ministry, said the country will promote the growing of silage corn, beans, other coarse grains and forage grass in parts of 13 provincial areas to replace the corn acreage.

China's corn acreage reached 37 million hectares in 2014, and is expected to increase by 1.9 percent this year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.