Wei Chao'an, Vice Agriculture Minister.

Maintaining a 95-percent grain self-support rate is China's state policy based on the country's reality and anything that leads to the lowering of it would affect the grain price in the world market, Vice Agriculture Minister Wei Chao'an said on Thursday.

"Now we can surely secure the country's food security and maintain grain price at the home market as our state-owned grain depots have much bigger stockpiles than last year, with the total amount much higher than the international level of grain reserve," Wei said at a press conference held on the sidelines of the national legislature's annual session.

China's grain consumption was at 5.15 million tonnes, against a total output of 5.285 million tonnes, so the country is 100 percent self sufficient in feeding its 1.3 billion population, he told reporters.

Wei said he was confident in a bumper summer harvest despite the worst-in-decades drought in north China this winter, echoing comments made by Chen Xiwen, director of the office of the central leading group on rural work, last week.

Winter wheat crops stood at 333 million mu (22.2 million hectares) this year, 2 million mu more than last year, according to Wei.

The vice minister said China's efforts to increase farmers' income is facing stern challenges, as the financial crisis takes its toll on the economy.

"It is already very difficult for the country's farmers to increase their income by producing more grain after five consecutive years of harvests," he said.

"Falling prices of farm produce and gloomy outlook for migrant workers to find jobs had added to that difficulty," he added.

February prices of grain and corn were down 5.1 percent and 11.5 percent, respectively, from last September, according to Wei.

"The global farm produce market is facing an oversupply, as output increased across the world, demand for biofuel crop fell, and international capital withdrew," he told reporters.

Twenty million out of China's 130 million migrant workers have returned to their rural homes jobless after a collapse in overseas demand forced many coastal exporters to shut down or halt production.

"The employment outlook for migrant workers might see the worst this May or June," said Wei, casting a shadow on the job prospects of migrant workers.

Under such gloomy prospect for the farmers, Wei said the government would find every possible means to increase income of farmers this year.

The central government spending on agriculture, farmers and the rural areas would total 716.1 billion yuan (104.6 billion U.S. dollars) in 2009, a year-on-year increase of 120.6 billion yuan, as stated in Premier Wen Jiabao's government work report.

Subsidies for grain production and purchase of farming machines would be further increased to 123 billion yuan, an increase of 20 billion yuan from last year, Wei said.

The government would keep prices of farm produce at a reasonable level to encourage farmers to grow more by raising minimum purchase prices, he added.

Wei said the country would boost government investment and launch rural infrastructure projects to employ more migrant workers in an effort to find employment for jobless migrant workers who have returned home.

Of China's total 1.3 billion population, more than 900 million are farmers, and about 130 million have headed towards cities for employment and become migrant workers.

(Xinhua News Agency March 12, 2009)