Regulation and Policy 

China Continues to Adjust Crops Mix (November 15, 1999) 

November 2, Beijing  The Chinese government's scrapping of protective prices for farm produce has accelerated the restructuring of planting patterns among the country's farmers. 

The results of a nationwide survey released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) show that the planting area of winter wheat decreased by 1.5% from the same period of last year, while that of oil seeds and vegetables grew by 12.2% and 8.5%, respectively. 

Though the total planting area of winter grain crops decreased slightly from last year, the total planting area of all crops increased by 2% due to the great increase of industrial crops. 

The NBS stated in a report that prices of grain have dropped continuously as the country reaped bumper harvests for several consecutive years. The government scrapped the minimum prices for purchasing grain from farmers last year and adopted a policy of paying less for lower quality grain. 

These factors combined to prompt farmers in major grain-growing areas to continue reducing the planting area of winter grain because it is now fetching lower prices. 

On the other hand, farmers continued increasing the planting areas of oil crops and vegetables, products in great demand. 

This winter, the growing demand for animal farming and fertilizer has prompted farmers to increase the planting areas of green fodder and fertilizer crops by 5% and 3.5%, respectively.