An Exploration Of China’s Grain Security And Policy Measures

This paper examines the issue of food security in China. Since 1996, China’s central government has paid close attention to food security and has invested a lot of time and resources into finding an optimal solution. Until recently, many of China’s policies have focused on protecting the area of sown crops, controlling urban sprawl, encouraging research and development in agricultural technology and state-sponsored agricultural training programs. While these programs have had large success in improving China’s food security, social changes driven by urbanization, rising income, and population growth have led to an increased strain on food markets. Coupled with changes in diet composition and preference, food security is becoming an even more pressing issue for China. This paper analyzes China’s cereal grain production and forecasts supply and demand to gain a better understanding of the future of grain security. This study draws two important conclusions. First, large-scale overinvestment in small agricultural machinery has created a situation in which small machinery has a negative relationship with cereal production. Second, China can increase considerably its cereal grain production by investing in large- and medium-sized agricultural machinery. Aside from these conclusions, China must also continue efforts to protect the total sown area of cereal grains while pushing for the efficient use of fertilizer.