China's farm produce output grows in 2012

Farm produce output in China witnessed growth last year, boosted by vegetable, meat and sugar production, the Ministry of Agriculture said Saturday. The ministry said a total of 135 million tonnes of sugar crops were produced in 2012, up 7.8 percent year on year. The country's vegetable output increased 3.4 percent from the 2011 level to a record a high of 702 million tonnes. China's meat output gained 5.4 percent to 82.21 million tonnes, while the output of eggs and milk climbed 1.8 percent and 2.3 percent to 28.61 million tonnes and 37.44 million tonnes, respectively, according to the ministry. Despite a decline in plantation acreage, producers of oil plants and cotton saw an increase in output, the ministry said, with the country's oil plant output reaching 34.76 million tonnes in 2012, up 5.1 percent year on year. China's cotton output rose 3.8 percent to 6.84 million tonnes for the year, the ministry said. The country's oil plant-growing acreage declined one million mu (66,667 hectare) to 207 million mu in 2012, while that of cotton dropped 3.1 million mu to 72.4 million mu. As previously reported, China's grain output hit nearly 590 million tonnes in 2012, marking the ninth consecutive year of growth.