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A grain industrial park in Funan county, Anhui province, was one of 70 areas recognized as national demonstration bases late last month to promote increased grain production. Construction of the industrial park in the west of the county started last year, with plans to invest 5 billion yuan ($780 million) and employ 3,500 locals, establishing a model high-quality grain project, the National Food and Strategic Reserves Administration said. Li Yunchuan, Party chief of Funan, said that with the help of the administration, the county has introduced leading enterprises, including China's largest food processor, COFCO, to join the entire industrial chain of high-quality wheat produced in the county. Since 2017, the model has promoted Funan's production of high-quality grain. The formerly impoverished county previously had high yields, but it produced nearly 100 wheat varieties, some of which were not good enough to meet market demand. Grain prices remained low, so farmers' incomes failed to increase despite good grain harvests. In 2017, researchers from the administration found that Funan had suitable soil for planting soft wheat and they picked six excellent varieties to promote. The area planted with these varieties increased from 1,000 hectares in 2018 to about 40,000 hectares this year, lifting 130,000 people in the county out of poverty. Last year, the county's total grain output reached 900,000 metric tons, and farmers' incomes increased by 120 million yuan. The county has developed 18 grain processing enterprises, with output valued at more than 1.6 billion yuan. Hou Jiasheng, chief of an agricultural technology cooperative, said wheat yields rose 22 percent this year to 8.25 tons per hectare. Benefiting from large-scale production and field management, the cooperative can earn 9,000 yuan per hectare of wheat. During the three-year project, the average income per hectare increased by 3,000 yuan. The grain industrial park in Funan will integrate grain reserves, deep processing, logistics and delivery, testing and scientific research, and supporting and extending postproduction processes. Funan's experience has been promoted to 64 grain-producing counties, where it has helped increase the output of high-quality grain by 70,000 tons, the administration said. To consolidate the results of poverty alleviation and make an effective transition to rural vitalization, the county is promoting peanut planting while continuing to develop high-quality wheat. Zhang Wufeng, director of the administration, said the high-quality grain project has proved an effective way to achieve poverty alleviation and boost rural vitalization in China. "We should focus on integrating the production, purchasing, preserving, processing and marketing of high-quality grain," he said.
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