China to invest 12.7 bln yuan in upgrading lower yield farmland

Chinese government will spend 12.7billion yuan (1.85 billion U.S. dollars) on upgrading lower-yield farmland this year, the State Office for Comprehensive Agricultural Development said on Wednesday.

The money, which is 10.27 percent more than last year, will transform 1.77 million hectares of lower-yield farmland into high-yield. As a result, three billion kilograms will be added to China's total annual grain production capacity.

Around 7.69 billion yuan, or more than 60 percent of the funds, will go to the 13 major grain producing regions of Heibei, Henan, Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Shandong, Sichuan and Anhui provinces and the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

Lower-yield farmland is farmland that has an output less than 20 percent of the regional average, calculated on a three-year base.