(Yicai Global) Nov. 2 -- The corn harvest in certain parts of northeast China, the country’s biggest grain producing area, has been affected by heavy rainfall this year, but overall national output is unlikely to decrease, industry insiders told Yicai Global.

Northeast China, which produces around 45 percent of China’s corn, was hit by unusually heavy rains during the summer, an expert said. This badly affected crops planted in low lying areas which became waterlogged, reducing the harvests by between 30 percent and 50 percent. In some places, the crops were completely wiped out.

Fortunately, the flooded areas only make up less than 10 percent of the planting area in northeastern China, which encompasses the three provinces of Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang and part of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

In other areas, the downpours were in fact a boon and these places are expected to have bumper harvests. Farmers in Kailu county in Inner Mongolia said that farms in the area were getting one ton of corn for every 670 square meters, equivalent to the local unit of one mu, when normally they would get between 850 kilograms to 900 kg.

A grain farmer near Changchun in Jilin province said his corn crop has remained stable this year even though planting was delayed by Covid-19 control and prevention measures.

The Jilin corn crop could fall slightly this year due to natural disasters, a person working at a large corn processor in northeastern China told Yicai Global. But this will be offset by an increase in production in Heilongjiang while Liaoning’s output should stay the same. The area planted with corn remains basically unchanged, he added.

Tight corn supply has caused prices to stay high as the new harvests hit the market, said Zheng Wenhui, a grain economy researcher at Guangdong South China Grain Trading Center. Corn prices are expected to stay high, but a price surge similar to what happened in 2020 is unlikely.

Some 91.2 percent of grain planted in the autumn has been harvested, Xinhua New Agency reported yesterday, citing the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Kim Taylor