Grain production reaches new heights, delivering impressive results

Another good harvest year! According to the National Bureau of Statistics, China's total grain output in 2014 was 607.099 million tons, an increase of 5.16 million tons over 2013, up 0.9%. Of this, total cereal output was 557.269 million tons, an increase of 4.577 million tons over 2013, up 0.8%. Consecutive years of grain harvests not only ensured that the rice bowl is kept firmly in our own hands, with that bowl filled mainly with our own grain, but also laid the foundation for the steady and healthy development of China's economy under the new normal.

With consecutive years of grain output increases, the task has grown heavier year by year and the difficulty greater year by year. This year was especially challenging, as we climbed from a high base after the "ten consecutive increases" and defended those high levels, making another grain harvest truly hard-won. Looking back on the grain production process over the past year, the reason we were able to achieve another bumper harvest and increase output lies not only in strong scientific and technological support, timely field management measures, and effective disaster prevention and mitigation, but more crucially in the central government's timely proposal of a national food security strategy for the new era, sending a strong signal to "prioritize agriculture and grain production" with clear requirements. Securing area through "seizing" opportunities, raising per-unit yield through "management," ensuring safety through "resistance," and reducing losses through "prevention"... Various special support policies linked together a whole set of comprehensive measures, fully mobilized the various actors in grain production, and fully optimized the allocation of various resources for grain production. Only thus could we still achieve a historic breakthrough in grain production under various unfavorable conditions and continuously enhance grain production capacity in substance.

At this historic moment of the "eleventh consecutive increase" in grain output, we must also recognize that the more consecutive years of bumper harvests we have, the more we need to keep the string of food security taut. Historical lessons remind us that often after grain becomes abundant, it is easy to underestimate the importance and value of grain; after consecutive years of bumper harvests, it is easiest for grain production to be neglected. On the issue of grain, we must always maintain a clear-headed vigilance in times of peace, and we must not fail to see the difficulties and pressures of ensuring food security in the future just because grain output has increased for consecutive years. In the future, the constraints on arable land and water resources available for agriculture will become increasingly tight. As the population grows and living standards rise, grain consumption will continue to increase. In addition, the marginal benefits of preferential agricultural policies and capital investment will gradually diminish, various natural disasters will become increasingly frequent, and pressure from domestic and international prices and costs will continue to grow. To maintain the good momentum of grain development from a high starting point, we face multiple challenges.

With grain in hand, there is no panic in the heart. This is not only a summary of the wisdom and experience of the Chinese nation over several thousand years of history, but also an inevitable choice made after comprehensively considering the current grain production situation. At a new historical starting point, safeguarding food security must never be relaxed or taken lightly. We must firmly build the cornerstone of China's stable food security development through stronger policy support, more complete integrated promotion of science and technology, and more vital innovation in management systems, and continue to write new glorious chapters in pursuit of the "Chinese Dream of agriculture, rural areas, and farmers"!