2021 Chinese grain production hit a record high

In the 21st century, Chinese agricultural production has dramatically improved, where the total grain output has reached a new level that has laid a solid foundation for food security.

China has been one of the world’s prominent grain-producing countries. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, in 2021 Chinese grain planting area was 118 million hectares, an increase of 863,000 hectares over 2020; the output was 683 million tons, an increase of 13.36 million tons over 2020, which hit a record high to achieve 600 million tons for ten consecutive years.

China’s grain planting area and output from 2011 to 2021

Out of the output, the planted area of summer harvest grain was 26,437,900 hectares, increasing 1% year on year; the output was 145.957 million tons, an increase of 2.2% year on year. The planted area of autumn harvest grain was 86,459,500 hectares, an increase of 0.7% year on year, and the output was 508.878 million tons, an increase of 1.9% year on year.

In terms of the planted area in 2021, cereal grain planted area was 100,177,400 hectares, accounting for 85.2% of the total grain area, an increase of 2,213,000 hectares over 2020, the planted area of rice of cereals was 29,921,200 hectares, the planted area of wheat was 23,568,400 hectares, and the planted area of corn was 43,324,100 hectares.

As regards the output, Chinese cereal grain output in 2021 was 632.761 million tons, an increase of 16.02 million tons over 2020, accounting for 92.7% of the total grain output, where the production of rice was 212.843 million tons, the wheat was 136.946 million tons, and corn was 272.552 million tons.

With the improvement of the Chinese agricultural mechanization, Chinese grain’s unit area output has constantly been growing, from 5,353.1 kg/hectare in 2012 to 5,805.0 kg/hectare in 2021, an increase of 451.9 kg/hectare in ten years’ time, of which the rice yield per unit area reached 7,113.4 kg/hectare while the corn yield per unit area reached 6,291 kg/hectare.

China’s grain unit area output from 2011 to 2021

In the three major grain production provinces, Heilongjiang, Henan and Shandong, the grain planting area exceeded 8,000,000 hectares, with production reaching 50 million tons each, of which Heilongjiang’s grain planting area and output were respectively 14,551,300 hectares and 78.677 million tons. Henan’s grain planting area and output were respectively 10,772,300 hectares and 65.442 million tons which was down 4% year on year mainly due to the flood disaster, and Shandong’s grain planting area and output were respectively 8,355,100 hectares and 55 million tons.