(NDAgConnection.com) – China’s grain output this year is expected to hit 688 million metric tons, while the area sown is estimated to reach 118 million hectares, according to a report released recently by the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences.

Given the implementation of a national project to expand the planting of soybean and oil crops, the area of soybeans in China will increase by 1.4 million hectares this year, and production is estimated to increase 25.8 percent, the report said.

The output of oil crops is about to increase 1.9 percent year-on-year, and pork production will see an annual increase of 2.9 percent to reach 54.5 million tons.

China Agricultural Outlook (2022-31) was released on Wednesday, analyzing the market trends of 18 major agricultural products including grain, meat, vegetables and fruits.

Wu Kongming, president of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, said given that global agricultural production has been greatly affected by the pandemic, natural disasters and regional conflicts, the outlook in agriculture is significant to ensure China’s food security and the effective supply of major agricultural products.