(Yicai) July 18 -- The mechanization level of crop planting and harvesting in China has exceeded 75 percent, with that of wheat, corn, and rice, the world's most important grains, exceeding 97 percent, 91 percent, and 88 percent, respectively, said the head of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs' planting management department.

China's autumn grain plantation area will likely increase slightly, especially that of the high-yield corn, which has significantly increased this year, Lv Xiutao noted. To ensure the annual output target of 700 million tons, the MARA has launched a 100-day disaster relief campaign to hit autumn crop harvest goals, Lv added.

This year's summer grain output, or that grain planted last fall and harvested from May to June, reached the second-highest level ever despite some regions experiencing severe drought, with the yield falling 0.1 percent to 149.7 million tons from a year earlier, according to statistics from the National Bureau of Statistics released on July 10.

Twenty of the 25 Chinese provincial-level regions that produce summer grains saw an increase in relevant plantation area, with the amount of summer crops produced per hectare slightly increasing to around 5.6 tons, said Wang Lejun, chief livestock officer of the MARA.

The yields of Henan and Shaanxi provinces dropped due to droughts, but those of Shandong, Hebei, and Sichuan provinces rose by about 205 million kilograms, 180 million kg, and 110 million kg, respectively, Wang noted. China has built over 66.7 million hectares of highly-standard farmland with constantly enhanced disaster resilience capabilities, boosting grain production resilience, he added.

Meat, eggs, milk, fruits, vegetables, and fish supplies were sufficient in the first half of this year, with prices staying at a stable level, Wang said. The cultivated area was about 7.3 million hectares over the first 10 days of this month, with output reaching 26.2 million tons, up more than 0.7 million hectares and 1.7 million tons from a year ago, he added.

Vegetables' wholesale prices fell 7.4 percent to an average of CNY4.40 (61 US cents) per kg, while that of six fruits sold in large quantities rose 2.5 percent to CNY7.30 per kg, Wang pointed out.

The output of poultry meat, pork, beef, and mutton increased 2.8 percent to around 48.4 million tons in the first half from a year earlier, while milk yield climbed 0.5 percent to about 18.6 million tons. Vegetable and fruit supplies were sufficient and had a good variety, with the pass rate of the routine monitoring of agricultural products' quality and safety reaching almost 98 percent.

Pig farming has stayed profitable for 14 consecutive months, while cattle farming swung into the black, said Huang Baoxu, director general of the MARA's Bureau of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Services.

Editor: Martin Kadiev