BEIJING — China is able to meet spring farming needs as the transport and production of agricultural production materials has mostly resumed amid the ongoing epidemic fight, agricultural officials said on March 5.?
?
Shipping disruptions have been basically fixed with agricultural production materials included into green channels, said Zhang Yanqiu, seed management official with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.?
?
About 78 percent of township-level roads in more than 1,500 agricultural counties of 25 provinces reported smooth traffic flows, said Zhang at a press conference.?
?
About 92 percent of the 362 key seed enterprises followed by the ministry have resumed production so far, with their production capacity at 62 percent, up 10 percentage points from last week, Zhang said.?
?
Producers of different types of fertilizers all reported a work resumption rate above 50 percent, with some reaching 88 percent, and 70 percent of more than 1,400 pesticide firms have resumed production, the latest data showed.?
?
The spring farming is expected to achieve a total grain sown area of 900 million mu (about 60 million hectares), accounting for more than half of the annual figure, said Pan Wenbo, a crop management official with the ministry.?
?
Despite the challenges brought by the COVID-19 outbreak, Pan said the ministry remains "confident of achieving the annual grain target with key measures well implemented."
?