The status and problems of grain production in the main grain production areas of China and policy suggestions

The main grain production areas play vital roles in national grain security. They have contributed about 75% of all grains and 80% of commodity grains for China and directly affected the capacity of national grain production. Based on the statistical yearbook data of in the main production areas and other areas during 2006 to 2016 in China, and applying the comparative analysis method, this paper evaluated the current situation of grain production in China and compared the inter-provincial indicators in the main grain production areas. Results show that the situation of “grain provinces, economical weak provinces, and financially poor provinces” still exists. This paper also identified some problems of grain production in the main production areas, including unbalanced distribution of benefits, small production scales, low contribution rate of agricultural technology, aging of agricultural labors, constraints of resources, high risks of natural disasters due to the northward movement of the main production areas, increasing pressure on the ecological environment from the overuse of fertilizers and pesticides, and large gaps in the levels of grain production among provinces in the main grain-producing areas. To solve these problems, this paper suggests to accelerate the transformation from the main grain production areas to the grain functional areas, to increase investment in agricultural technology, to speed up the land circulation, and to adopt new concepts of agricultural production.