United States
Department of
Agriculture
World Agricultural
Production
Foreign
Agricultural
Service
Circular Series
W
November 2007
AP 11-07
C h i n a : C o rn A re a R e a c h e s N e w H e i g h ts
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1 8
2 0
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199019921994199619982000200220042006Million Hectares
China Corn: Higher Area Offsets Lower Yields in Northeast China
China’s 2007/08 corn production is estimated at 145.0 million tons, up 2.0 million or 1 percent
from last month but down slightly from last year’s revised crop of 145.5 million tons. Area is
estimated at a record 28.0 million hectares, up more than 1 million hectares from last year, as
rising worldwide demand for corn and high prices encouraged farmers to expand corn acreage.
This is the third consecutive year of record planted area in China. The estimated yield of 5.18
tons per hectare is down from last year’s record yield but close to the long term trend. Severe
drought in Northeast China caused significant yield reductions, but other regions reported near to
above normal yields this year.
According to preliminary harvest results, corn production in Jilin province dropped by 2 million
tons in 2007/08 due to sharply lower yields. In Heilongjiang, production increased over last year
only because the poor yields were offset by a major increase in planted area (up about 500,000
hectares). Lower yields were also reported in Inner Mongolia and Liaoning provinces due to
drought. However, large corn crops are expected from other regions in China. Henan,
Shandong, Hebei and other provinces on the North China Plain reported increased area and
higher yields than last year, although untimely heavy rainfall in September may have caused
some quality problems. Estimated production is higher than last year in the Sichuan basin, and
normal yields are expected in southern China. (For more in