Chinese Rapeseed Plantings Cut?

Posted by Nogger - a legend in his own mind at 08:42 | Categorized as

22/12/10 -- An interesting report on Reuters this morning says that Chinese farmers have cut rapeseed plantings this year by 20% in the country's top four growing regions of Hubei, Anhui, Hunan and Jiangxi.

A survey commissioned by "several futures companies" found that government subsidies and minimum set prices for other grains may have encouraged local farmers to shy away from rapeseed in favour of winter wheat or left land idle for rice or cotton planting in the spring.

You probably won't be surprised to hear that the results of the survey contrast sharply with official data, which shows the Chinese Ministry of Lying par for the course modest 1% increase on last year.