China food security: focus on increased domestic soybean production amid self-sufficiency drive
- China will aim to increase its national soybean yield by the equivalent of around 75kg (165lbs) per hectare this year as part of a food self-sufficiency drive
- A heavy reliance on imported commodities has raised significant concerns about food security as China imports more than 80 per cent of the soybeans it uses
China is aiming to increase soybean production this year as part of efforts to achieve greater food self-sufficiency amid escalating geopolitical tensions.
Beijing has doubled down on efforts to improve agricultural production and planting, elevating its significance to a political task and making soybean production a criteria to be used to judge the performance of officials, according to the State Council on Thursday.
China will aim to increase its national soybean yield by 5kg (11lbs) per mu – a Chinese unit of land measurement equivalent to around 0.0667 hectares or 0.165 acres – according to Pan Wenbo, director of the crop farming management department within the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.
A heavy reliance on imported commodities has raised significant concerns about food security as China imports more than 80 per cent of the soybeans it uses to feed its people and livestock, with shipments coming mainly from Brazil and the United States.
To be frank, farmers are less motivated to grow beans than last year due to the previous low market price of soybeans and their low benefits
Farmers will be offered subsidies to encourage increased soybean planting to bolster production, Pan said.
“To be frank, farmers are less motivated to grow beans than last year due to the previous low market price of soybeans and their low benefits,” he added.
China imported 29.5 million metric tonnes of US soybeans last year, down by 8.6 per cent from a year earlier, according to Ministry of Commerce data. US soybeans accounted for 32.4 per cent of China’s total imports in 2022, it added.
Also last year, China bought 54.4 million metric tonnes of Brazilian soybeans, accounting for 59.7 per cent of China’s imports.
Beijing has placed more attention on food security after the outbreak of the war in Ukraine disrupted global food markets, while tensions with the US also have also pushed China to accelerate its self-reliance push.
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“If China wants to increase soybean production, it needs to expand its planting area, yet farmers prefer to plant corn because it is more economically efficient than soybeans, which is why China is stimulating farmers with a subsidy policy,” said Wang Bing Bing, CEO of BioBin Data Science.
The current breeding stage of agricultural technology is sufficient enough to support China in achieving its new yield target with the aid of genetic modification technology, Wang added.
“This new target means a 1-2 per cent increase in yields,” Wang added.
Last year, China’s soybean planted area reached the highest level since 1958 with its soybean self-sufficiency rate increasing by 3 percentage points to 18 per cent, according to data released by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs in January.
China produced more than 20 million tonnes of soybeans for the first time last year, falling 3 million tonnes short of the 2025 target set out in the 14th five-year plan for 2021-25.
After all, an increase in China’s total soybean production would mean it is less dependent on the US for soybeans imports
“The remaining 3 million tonnes is not an easy goal, it means a further 15 per cent growth, something that is quite difficult and we will hardly achieve a straightforward 15 per cent increase in yields,” Wang said, adding that increasing the planting area would be a more realistic way to achieve the 2025 target.
“After all, an increase in China’s total soybean production would mean it is less dependent on the US for soybean imports.”
The network of agriculture experts, that includes council staff and is backed by the Henan University of Technology, will aim to teach farmers in the agriculture-intensive province how to give soy-based foods to fish, shrimp, poultry and livestock so animals “perform” better and waste less.
