Subsidies encourage farmers to grow more soybeans

The planting of soybeans has increased this spring because of encouragement in the form of increased subsidies, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said on Tuesday.

In addition to soybeans, peanuts and rapeseed - two other major sources of edible oil in China - have also been planted more extensively, the ministry said.

In Hailun, Heilongjiang province, 173,000 hectares of farmland were planted with soybeans, an increase of 30 percent over last year, Wang Baofeng, vice-mayor of the city, told China Central Television on Tuesday.