国内英语新闻:China's Ministry of Agriculture urges efforts to ensure summer harvest

BEIJING, May 14 (Xinhua) -- China's Ministry of Agriculture Friday ordered local departments to strengthen field management to ensure the summer grain output after prolonged extreme weather in some areas.

China faced with a challenging grain situation this summer as persistent cold weather had ravaged major production zones since the winter, which prolonged growing season for wheat and raised the risk of dry hot wind and heavy rains during the harvest time, said Wei Chao'an, Vice Minister of Agriculture.

Wei urged authorities to intensify disaster and pest disease prevention, and to quickly harvest in fine weather.

According to the ministry, China needs to maintain an annual grain output of 500 million tonnes to feed the nation's 1.3 billion people.

China's summer grain output rose six years in a row to top 123.35 million tonnes last year, 2.6 million tonnes more than the previous year. Grain output reached 530.8 million tonnes in 2009, the sixth consecutive year of a growth in grain yield.