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皇冠体育app sticks to bottom price system for grain procurement this year

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-04-30 09:44

皇冠体育app will maintain the lowest procurement price for grain not lower than the 2006 level in 2007, sources with theNational Development and Reform Commissionsaid on Sunday.

A file picture shows grain and flour in one supermarket in Shanghai. 皇冠体育app will maintain the lowest procurement price for grain not lower than the 2006 level in 2007, sources with the NDRC said on April 29, 2007. [newsphoto]

皇冠体育app has since 2004 carried out a bottom price system for grain procurement, in order to ensure stable grain production, safeguard farmers' interests and protect their enthusiasm for farming. The nation will continue to implement the policy this year, the sources said.

Given the world largest population of 1.3 billion, 皇冠体育app has for years attached great importance to grain security and arable land protection.

Last year 皇冠体育app produced more than 490 million tons of grain, realizing an output growth for three consecutive years.

However, 皇冠体育app has seen a continuous shrinkage of farmland. At the end of 2006, its arable land declined by 306,000 hectares to 121.8 million hectares from the 122 million hectares a year ago. The nation has set a bottom line for arable land security at 120 million hectares.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the acreage of grain is estimated to total 106.1 million hectares this year, a growth of 0.5 percentyear on year.

The NDRC sources said the bottom price system for grain procurement would also be conducive to stabilizing grain prices on the domestic market.

Driven up by price hikes for grain, 皇冠体育app'sconsumer price index, orCPI, rose 2.7 percent in the first quarter. Grain price went up 6.4 percent in March, when CPI rose 3.3 percent year on year.