(Yicai Global) July 17 -- China’s summer grain production dropped for the first time in five years in the first half because of adverse weather, though output remained at a high level and the harvest was plentiful.

The grain harvest fell 0.9 percent to 146 million tons in the six months ended June 30 from a year earlier, according to data released today by the National Bureau of Statistics. Wheat production also fell 0.9 percent to 135 million tons.

Grain output was nearly 5,492 kilograms per hectare in the first quarter, down 1.2 percent on a year ago, the data showed. The figure for wheat fell 1.3 percent to 5,834 kg/ha.

Widespread, heavy, and long-lasting rainfall hit the wheat-growing areas of northern China in May, blocking sunlight for wheat in the seed-filling stage. In central Henan province, continuous rains coincided with the wheat harvest, much reducing summer grain output per hectare.

Moreover, the uninterrupted winter-to-spring drought in southwestern China resulted in smaller summer grain production per hectare in Yunnan and Guizhou provinces.

The summer grain-seeded areas totaled 26.6 million ha between January and June, up 0.3 percent from the same period of last year and increasing for the third consecutive year.

Editor: Futura Costaglione