China To Plant More Soybeans, Reduce Corn Acres

Oct 24, 2016

China will reduce the area planted with corn and lift soybean acreage in the next five years, said the country's cabinet on Thursday, reiterating goals outlined earlier this year to adjust the nation's crop structure to better meet demand.

China has encouraged farmers to expand corn planting and abandon soybeans in recent years by paying them inflated prices for corn. The policy, abandoned earlier this year, has left China with huge reserves of corn.

The government is now attempting to reverse that trend while also seeking ways to use up its huge stocks of grain.

The corn acreage is set to fall by 0.7 percent each year over the next five years, to reach 500 million mu (33.3 million hectares) by 2020, showed the five-year plan.

Soybean area will rise to 140 million mu by 2020, up from 98 million mu in 2015.

The government also wants to promote "deep processing" of agricultural products such as corn and accelerate consumption of the grain, cotton and oil stockpiles, it said.

Video: Finding a Balance of Innovation and Regulation - Dr. Peter Facchini

Regulations help markets and industry exist on level playing fields, keeping consumers safe and innovation from going too far. However, incredibly strict regulations can stunt innovation and cause entire industries to wither away. Dr. Peter James Facchini brings his perspective on how existing regulations have slowed the advancement of medical developments within Canada. Given the international concern of opium poppy’s illicit potential, Health Canada must abide by this global policy. But with modern technology pushing the development of many pharmaceuticals to being grown via fermentation, is it time to reconsider the rules?

Dr. Peter James Facchini leads research into the metabolic biochemistry in opium poppy at the University of Calgary. For more than 30 years, his work has contributed to the increased availability of benzylisoquinoline alkaloid biosynthetic genes to assist in the creation of morphine for pharmaceutical use. Dr. Facchini completed his B.Sc. and Ph.D. in Biological Sciences at the University of Toronto before completing Postdoctoral Fellowships in Biochemistry at the University of Kentucky in 1992 & Université de Montréal in 1995.