Skip to main content

The Invincible Chinese Corn Crop

The Chinese corn crop is impervious to all threats!

The worst attack of army worms since 2001? Not a problem! Typhoons that blow over corn stalks? Bring it on! Flooded fields and disease? Got it covered! Chinese corn is invincible to all comers. The Americans may have to worry about drought, but nothing can stand in the way of a magnificent Chinese corn crop--not weather, bugs, microbes, or statisticians.

Reports say that the third generation of army worms has matured and is attacking corn in broad areas of northern and northeastern China since late August and there is an alert about a fourth generation. The adult moths are said to be able to migrate over wide areas, flying hundreds of kilometers in a single night. But the caterpillars will certainly be wiped out by a massive fog of bug spray laid down by The Chinese Ministry of Agriculture. In August, the Minister of Agriculture personally went out to inspect the work on controlling army worms and proclaimed that monitoring and controlling army worms is crucial to guaranteeing a good fall harvest.

A typhoon blew over 3.7 million acres of corn, accounting for 15 percent of corn area in three northeastern provinces. Five percent of the corn area in Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang was severely damaged. But the Ministry of Agriculture issued an emergency notice on reducing the effects of the typhoon and gave farmers guidance on draining flooded fields, propping up corn stalks and treating plant disease. Experts say the effects of the typhoon are confined to limited areas and won't have much effect on corn production. The corn is about 80-percent mature and the ears from seriously affected stalks can be harvested.

According to experts, the area severely affected by the typhoon amounts to just 0.9 percent of the corn area in the three northeastern provinces. According to the chairman of the Liaoning Province agriculture commission, only the mountainous eastern part of his province was affected; the Liao River Plain, western and southern parts of the province were not affected much. The head of the agriculture bureau in Jilin's Yushu City said the rain from the typhoon restored soil moisture and refilled reservoirs. Other experts claim that the rain may delay the onset of the first frost 3 to 5 days, also beneficial to the corn crop.

Officials say the corn crop is about five days ahead of normal growth and the northeast will have another big harvest if weather is normal. Whatever the Chinese communist party always comes true. Statistics always hit the targets set by officials with uncanny accuracy; those guys are such good forecasters! This year's ninth-straight increase in grain production is assured.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Xi Jinping's Doctoral Thesis

Xi Jinping is the vice president and presumed next president of China but little is known about him. In this post the dimsums blog offers its contribution to the genre of Xi Jinping-ology by conveying Xi's decade-old views on agricultural markets. Ten years ago Xi Jinping wrote a thesis, "Tentative Study of Agricultural Marketization" (中国农村市场化研究) for a Doctor of Law degree at Tsinghua University in Beijing, a top breeding-ground for Chinese officials. The dimsums blogger has spent several hours poring over the 200-plus page tome to see what it reveals about Dr. Xi. The thesis is remarkably close to what China has been doing lately in agricultural policy, suggesting that Xi (or the person who actually wrote the thesis) has a major say in policy or is at least in agreement with what's being done. There is nothing adventurous, controversial (or insightful) in the thesis. It seems to be the work of a wonkish technocrat who is not prone to talk out of turn or wander from...

China's 2024 Ag Imports Shrank in Value

China's agricultural imports declined 7.9 percent during 2024 to reach $215 billion, according to data posted on the customs administration website. The 2024 value was lower than each of the 3 preceding years. Agricultural exports were up 4.1 percent to reach $103 billion. Source: Data from China Customs Administration December reports. The top two agricultural import categories by value both declined. Soybeans ($52.75 billion in 2024) fell 10.9 percent, and meat ($23.38 billion) fell 15.1 percent. Cereal grain imports ($15 billion) were down 28 percent and fish & shellfish imports ($18.5 billion) were down 6.2 percent. Edible oils imports ($10.6 billion) were down 17.8 percent. Fruit, rubber, cotton and wool and beverage imports were up for the year. The decline in value of imports partly reflected a decline in prices. Customs reported that the volume of soybean imports for calendar year 2024 reached a record 105 million metric tons, up 5.6 million metric tons from the previou...

China: Record Meat & Grain Output in 2025; Declining Farm Prices and Imports

China's 2025 agricultural production data shows meat output grew 4.2%, exceeding 100 million metric tons for the first time, while grain output grew 1.2% to 714.88 mmt. Soybeans stood out with growing imports during 2025, but most of China's other agricultural imports went down. Most agricultural prices also went down, reflecting an economy that appears weaker than the 5% GDP growth reported for 2025. Meat output growth featured 4.1% growth in pork output, 6.7% growth in poultry, and 2.8% growth in beef, according to the China National Bureau of Statistics preliminary data release for 2025 . Milk production grew marginally, and production of eggs and mutton fell. This blog previously reported the Bureau's report of a record grain harvest and 7.7-percent increase in cotton output . Trade data released by the customs administration show imports of wheat, corn and cotton plummeted during calendar year 2025. Imported soybeans rose 6.5 percent last year to 111.83 mmt, compris...