Chinese Corn Acreage Set to Hit 45.9 Million Ha
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Corn was introduced into China more than 400 years ago. Corn development history could be divided into four stages:
- From enlightenment to establishment (1926-1949).
- Promotion of inter-variety hybrids (1949-1959).
- Promotion of double-cross varieties (1959-1965).
- Promotion of single-cross types and six varieties replacement (1965-present).
The distribution of Corn planting in various regions in China is not balanced, mainly concentrated in the northeast, north, and southwest regions, roughly forming an obliquely elongated Corn planting belt from northeast to southwest. The provinces with large planting areas mainly include Heilongjiang, Jilin, Hebei, Shandong, Henan, Inner Mongolia, Liaoning, and other provinces. The Corn planting area in these eight provinces accounts for about 66% of the country’s total planting area. After years of planning and adjustment, the leading Corn production areas currently include the following six areas:
(1) The main producing areas of spring sowing Corn in the north: include the three northeastern provinces, Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, and parts of Hebei, Shanxi, Shaanxi, and Gansu. One harvest a year, mainly dry land, with an area of about 80 million mu (1 mu = 666.6 m2), accounting for 26.67% of the national Corn area. The three northeastern provinces have gradually implemented subsidies, with an average subsidy of about 150 yuan per mu, corresponding to a subsidy of about 300 yuan per ton.
(2) The main producing areas of summer-sown Corn in the Huang-Huai-Hai Plain: include all of Shandong and Henan, central and southern Hebei and Shanxi, central Shaanxi, and northern Jiangsu and Anhui. Two crops a year, with equal emphasis on irrigated land and dry land, with an area of about 130 million mu, accounting for 43.4% of the country’s Corn area.
(3) Main Corn-producing areas in Southwest Mountains: Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, Hunan, southern Shaanxi, and hilly lands in western Guangxi. One crop, two crops, and three crops coexist each year, and paddy and dry fields intersect, with an area of about 60 million mu, accounting for 20% of the country’s Corn area.
(4) The main production areas of southern hilly areas: include Guangdong, Jiangxi, Fujian, Zhejiang, Shanghai, Taiwan, Hainan, Guangxi, Hunan, eastern Hubei, south Jiangsu, and Anhui. Both paddy fields and dry land are cultivated three times a year. Corn is sown in spring, autumn and winter. The area is about 15 million mu, accounting for 5% of the country’s Corn area.
(5) Major irrigated Corn-producing areas in Northwest China: including all of Xinjiang and the Hexi Corridor in Gansu. One or two crops a year are mainly irrigated land, with an area of about 13 million mu, accounting for 4% of the country’s Corn area.
(6) Main Corn-producing areas on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau: including all Qinghai and Tibet. One crop a year, dry land spring sowing single cropping, an area of about 3 million mu, accounting for 1% of the country’s Corn area.
Chinese Corn Production and Trade
According to data from the United States Department of Agriculture, China’s Corn production totaled 272.5 million tons in MY2021/2022, having domestic consumption of 291 million tons. China’s Corn planting area reached 43.32 million hectares in 2021, a year-on-year increase of 2.06 million hectares, an increase of nearly 5%. The Corn-sown area is expected to increase to 45.88 million hectares in 2022. From 2016 to 2019, Chinese Corn yield per unit area tended to be stable. In 2021, Corn yield per unit area decreased to 6,291 kg/ha.
According to the AgFlow data, the United States led Chinese Corn import market with 15.5 million tons in 2022, followed by Ukraine (5.6 million tons) and Brazil (2.3 million tons). In October 2022, Corn imports to China amounted to approximately 234.6 million U.S. dollars. In September, it was 642 million U.S. dollars.
Other sources: AGROPAGES
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