Looking at "Eight Increases" of Food from the Perspective of Science and Technology

In the new era of urban-rural transformation and development in China, especially in the context of the ongoing impact of the international financial crisis and the high price of food prices, China’s grain production has achieved “an eight-point increase”, which has not only drastically increased the domestic grain self-sufficiency rate, but also balanced the global food supply. Supply and demand and stabilizing international market prices have special significance; and it also greatly enhances China's ability to withstand international financial risks in the process of economic development, laying a solid material foundation for the stable development of China's social economy.

In the future, the increase in food production costs, the limited area of ​​arable land, and the continuous transfer of labor force, the increase in grain production in China needs to continue to rely on science and technology to improve the development of yields.

Increased production from yields per unit of production depends on technology

China's grain production presents a growth-fluctuation-growth development model. According to statistics, in 1978, China’s grain output was 307.765 million tons. By 1998, it exceeded the 500 million tons mark, and the volatility decreased. In 2003, the country’s grain output was only 430.695 million tons. In 2004, the Party Central Committee made major adjustments to the agricultural and rural economic policies and promoted the rapid recovery and development of grain production. The annual grain output reached 469.469 million tons, reversing the situation that has declined for five consecutive years since 1999. In 2011, China’s total grain output was 57.11 million tons, which set a new historical record and achieved the first eight consecutive years of production increase in half a century. This shows that China’s grain production has entered a new stage of development.

In recent years, the total grain growth has mainly come from the contribution of yield. Since the reform and opening up, China's total grain growth has been the result of the combined effect of the increase in yield and the expansion of planting area. However, there is very limited space for the expansion of the sown area, and the contribution to the total grain output has been declining, while the increase in yield has increased the total grain output. The contribution has shown an upward trend. From 2004 to 2011, grain production increased for eight consecutive years, and the total output increased by 14.051 million tons. Among them, the increase in grain per unit area and grain sown area contributed 62.3% and 37.7% of the total output growth, respectively.

Seven years out of eight years of grain production have increased, which is higher than the record of 300 kilograms per mu in 1998. In 2011, the total output reached 57,100 tons, and the yield per mu reached 344 kilograms. The yield per unit area was about the same as that of the previous grain production period in 1998. 10%, an increase of 15.6% over 2003, achieving both a per-mu production and a total output exceeding historical best levels.

The increase in yields mainly depends on scientific and technological progress. The contribution rate of China's agricultural science and technology progress has been raised from 27% in the initial period of reform and opening up to 52% in 2010, which indicates that agricultural science and technology have played a key role in achieving a total food production leap and greatly enhanced China's grain production capacity. Therefore, judging from the current endowments of China's agricultural resources, land is scarcer than labor, and the government must vigorously enhance agricultural biochemical technological progress to substantially increase land productivity and raise food security.

In addition, there is a large potential for yield increase in grain yields. At present, the average yields of rice, corn, and soybeans in China are only 75.4%, 51.8%, and 55.7% of the U.S., respectively. This shows that there is still considerable room for the growth potential of the three major crops in China. If we increase the scientific and technological content of grain production, we must It is the promotion of high-quality, high-yield and improved varieties. The production of rice, wheat and corn has reached the current international advanced level, and the total output can be increased by more than 30%. We must always adhere to the concept that science is the first productive force, strengthen the innovation capacity of agricultural science and technology and the effectiveness of results transformation, and promote the continuous growth of China's grain.