CHINA will plant soybeans on every patch of land possible this year, the agriculture minister said yesterday, as it seeks to reduce its dependence on huge annual imports.

The minister, Tang Renjian, announced his plan after the government outlined a raft of measures to lift soybean output, among steps to boost food security, in a major rural policy document.

“We will make great efforts ... to expand the production of soybeans and oilseeds. Each extra mu planted counts, and every jin harvested counts,” he said, using Chinese measures for land area and weight.

The State Council said in the policy statement, known as the “No.1 document” of every year in China that stable farm output and growing rural incomes were critical to healthy development in the country, which is facing challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic, a fragile global economy and climate change.

Though China has long prioritized food security, it has become much more prominent in policy since the pandemic began in early 2020.

China is largely self-sufficient in staples but has faced a major shortage of pork, and a corn supply crunch in recent years, as well as severe weather events.

Soybean imports recently fell well below expectations, prompting the government to start releasing reserves.

While recognizing the role of international markets, Tang stressed the need for increasing domestic supplies.

“A bottle of oil should contain as much Chinese oil as possible,” he told reporters.

The world’s top soybean importer saw a sharp fall in its small domestic crop last year as farmers planted corn instead.

The State Council document, issued late Tuesday, dedicated a full section to boosting the soybean and oilseeds production project, using measures like increasing subsidies for land rotation programs and rewards for counties that produce large volumes of edible oils.

China is also developing soybean varieties suited to alkaline soils and experimenting with intercropping soybeans with corn to eke out as much soy as possible. (SD-Agencies)