Hoarding of grain unnecessary as country has enough supply, ministry says

There is no need to hoard grain as the country has enough repertory, an official with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said at a news conference on Saturday.

China's grain output reached over 650 billion kilograms for a fifth straight year, and last year's yield of 663.9 billion kg set a new record, Wei Baigang, director of the ministry's development and planning department, said, adding that the per capita output of grain has been higher than the world average since 2010.

"The repertory of rice and wheat in the country is enough for the whole population for one year," Wei said.

The global food supply is adequate despite the recent rise in price, as the aggregate supply reached 3.47 billion ton while the total demand was 2.67 billion ton in the past year.

"There is no shortage of food based on the global supply and the recent price rise is due to the panic buying during the pandemic," Wei said.

Pan Wenbo, director of the ministry's crop production department, said the grain production began well as the area of food crops this year is expected to steadily increase, with the summer crops projected to record good growth and the spring seeding proceeding smoothly.

"Our food is self-sufficient and the global impact is limited. It's not necessary to snap up food," he said.

To support the grain supply during special period of the novel coronavirus epidemic, the ministry will continue carrying out crop rotation and fallow system by expanding rotation and shrinking fallow, according to Pan.