China announces bumper wheat harvest amid looming global food crisis caused by Ukraine war

After more than 30 years of research, China’s development of a type of wheat that can thrive in tidal flats and saline soils is starting to pay off. The salt-alkali-tolerant variety has been contributing to China’s grain production in recent years, with state media reporting that by June 6, 2022, 167 million mu (11.13 million hectares) of the wheat was harvested, accounting for about 55 per cent of its winter wheat. A bumper grain harvest, primarily made up of wheat, is crucial to ensuring food security for China’s 1.4 billion people, particularly in the face of a looming global food crisis sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Both countries are the world’s two biggest grain exporters.