China’s biggest soybean grower – the northeastern province of Heilongjiang – plans to increase the area planted to the crop by 10 million mu (666,667 hectares) in 2022, the official Xinhua news agency said on Sunday.
China’s soybean output dropped sharply last year as farmers decided to grow more corn because it was more profitable. China’s 2021/22 soybean output was forecast by the agriculture ministry to fall 16.3% from 2020/21.
The ministry had estimated the land planted to soybean in 2021/22 at 8.4 million hectares.
The country’s agriculture ministry told an annual central rural work conference last week that China should stabilize grain production, and boost the production of soybean and oilseeds.
