CHINA, the world’s top buyer of soybeans and corn, will push for higher grain yields across large areas of farmland as it seeks to ensure food security for its huge population, state media reported on Wednesday (Dec 20), citing an annual rural policy meeting. China reported a record corn crop this year and bumper harvests of other grains, but Beijing continues to be concerned with food security, particularly amid rising tensions with trade partners, climate-related disasters and military conflicts. Record corn production of 289 million tonnes this year was achieved, largely thanks to a 2.7 per cent increase in planted acreage, as authorities reclaimed land used for other crops for staple grains. Speaking at an annual meeting that sets rural policy priorities for the year ahead, policymakers said China will “stabilise” grain sowing area and “promote large-scale increases in grain yields”, the official Xinhua news agency reported late on Wednesday. It did not outline specific measures to boost yields, but Chinese corn breeders are preparing to plant more than double the amount of genetically modified corn next year than in 2023, as Beijing slowly introduces a technology that typically lifts yields. Policymakers also said China should “consolidate the results of soybean expansion”, according to state media. China has boosted its domestic soybean production significantly in the last two years by promoting more planting to reduce its reliance on overseas imports. The policy, however, has resulted in excess production of non-genetically modified soybeans for food use, forcing Beijing to buy up some of the supplies for state reserves. Policymakers said China should strengthen the protection of arable land, accelerate the revitalisation of the seed industry and prioritise building “high-standard” farmland in its bread basket area of the Northeast, famous for its fertile black soil, according to state media.

Data on Wednesday from the General Administration of Customs showed that Brazil overtook the US in November to become China’s biggest corn supplier this year, while also shipping the most soybeans during a quarter traditionally dominated by US imports.

Brazil supplied 3.22 million tonnes of corn, out of the record-high total of 3.59 million tons that arrived in China in November. Analysts said they expected Brazil to continue to dominate China’s corn supplies.

Brazil’s pole position comes just a year after China approved corn exports from the South American nation to diversify its suppliers and reduce its dependence on the US and Ukraine.

China’s soybean imports from Brazil also surged 108 per cent in November from the same month a year earlier to 5.29 million tonnes, customs data showed.

Shipments from the US were slowed down by a drought in the Panama Canal and the Mississippi River. November arrivals from the US shrank by 30 per cent to 2.3 million tonnes, from 3.29 million tonnes a year earlier.

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“This will be the norm going forward; Brazil’s agriculture production has more competitive advantages,” said Ma Wenfeng, senior analyst at Beijing-based agriculture consultancy Beijing Orient Agribusiness Consultancy.

A bumper harvest and logistical breakthroughs such as the consolidation of northern export routes are boosting the competitiveness of the South American grains powerhouse. REUTERS