China's major grain producer expects 50 mln-tonne output

China's largest grain producer, central China's Henan Province, is expected to harvest 50 million tonnes this year despite natural disasters, local authorities said Monday.

Wei Zhongsheng, chief economist of the Agricultural Department of the provincial government, said corn and rice suffered storms in southern and central Henan, but more autumn grain were planted this year and the unaffected areas have seen increase in production against last year.

"We expect the autumn grain to hit 23.5 million tonnes, so that the whole-year production could exceed 50 million tonnes," he said.

Henan has been China's largest grain producer since 2000. It produced 53.7 million tonnes of grain last year, accounting more than 10 percent of the country.

Source: Xinhua