1 Agricultural product production status and existing problems in China

China’s output of agricultural products reached 1.980 billion tons in 2019, decreasing by 0.56% over the previous year and 6.7% from the highest level in 2016, hitting the lowest level since 2014. Of that, the output of edible agricultural products was 1.965 billion tons, falling by 0.54% year-on-year and 6.8% from 2016. The great reduction in output led to the growth in the price and imports of edible agricultural products.
By varieties: In 2019, China’s food production reached 663.84 million tons, increasing by 5.94 million tons (or 0.9%) from the previous year, hitting a record high. Food production has been above 650 million tons for five years in a row.
Seed cotton yield stood at 15.09 million tons, down 2.5% from the previous year, including 5.94 million tons of ginned cotton and 9.14 million tons of cotton seed.
The production of oil crops was 34.95 million tons, up 2.23% year-on-year. The supply of oil seed including cotton seed totaled 44.09 million tons, increasing by 1.8% over the previous year, the highest level since 2014.
The production of sugar-yielding crops reached 122.04 million tons, up 2.23% year-on-year. The growth in the production of food, oil, and sugar crops is conductive to lowering China’s dependence on foreign products. The supply of fresh products dropped markedly.
In 2019, China’s production of fresh products was 1.144 billion tons, decreasing by 1.76% over the previous year and 12.20% from 2016. The great reduction in fresh production production had an obvious impact on residents’ actual income.
Vegetable yield reached 685.20 million tons, decreasing by 0.84% from the previous year and 14.11% from 2016.The production of cucurbites was 77.54 million tons, up 4.17% over the previous year, down 24.23% from 2016. Fruits yield registered 173.25 million tons, down 0.66% year-on-year, decreasing by 4.38% from 2016. The restrictions on agricultural vehicle entering cities and raised approval standards for the opening of stores along the streets in cities seriously hindered the circulation of commodities in markets, leading to the decrease of production and consumption.
Animal protein output was 207.84 million tons, falling by 4.65% from the year before and 6.18% from 2017. Of that, meat production totaled 78.24 million tons, decreasing by 9.96% from the year before and 10.14% from 2014; egg production was 33.09 million tons, hitting a record high; milk production reached 32.01 million tons, up 4.10% year-on-year, decreasing by 14.07% from 2015; the production of aquatic products reached 64.50 million tons, decreasing by 6.6% year-on-year and 7.03% from 2017.
As for meat production in 2019, the output of pork, beef, mutton, and poultry meat totaled 76.49 million tons, decreasing by 10.2% from the year before. Affected by environmental protection policy and ineffective control and prevention of ASF, pork production saw the biggest decrease, falling by 21.26% from the previous year and 24.97% from 2014. Beef production was 6.67 million tons, increasing by 3.57% from the year before, decreasing by 8.13% from 2017. Mutton and poultry meat production were 4.88 million tons and 33.09 million tons, both hitting record highs, rising by 2.74% and 12.29% year-on-year respectively.
On processing, China’s annual output value of agricultural and sideline products processing, food manufacturing, and beverage manufacturing totaled 8.1187 trillion yuan in 2019, up by 0.35% from the previous year, but it’s obviously lower than 11.10 trillion yuan in 2016 and 10.52 trillion yuan in 2017.
Farmers’ income: The per capita disposable income of rural residents was 16021yuan in 2019, up 9.6% from the previous year, increasing by 6.2% after deducting the impact of monetary factors. The annual income of all non-migrant workers totaled 334.3 billion yuan, decreasing by 8.20% from the previous year, and it’s the lowest level since 2012. There were 158 million non-migrant workers in rural areas at the end of 2019, and their net income per capita only was 2116 yuan, which declined by 1.79% from the previous year. It is lower than the national poverty line of 2300yuan.