The rural area of Shandong province, which is a major grain production base in the country. [Photo/IC]

The grain production in East China's Shandong province grew in acreage, yield per unit and total output in 2023, with the total grain output remaining stable at over 55 billion kilograms for three consecutive years, according to statistics from the National Bureau of Statistics.

The province accounted for 8.1 percent of the total grain output in the country, the third highest in the nation. The grain increment accounted for 12.6 percent of the national increment, ranking second.

Since the start of this year, Shandong has focused on implementing actions to improve the yield per unit of major grain and oil crops, strengthen the coordination of good seeds and good farming practices, and integrate agricultural machinery and techniques.

It has adopted various measures and developed technological pathways to drive yield improvement based on different crops and regions. About 97 key technologies and 33 recommended varieties were identified and implemented, with the contribution rate of improved varieties reaching 47 percent.

The province has continued to organize large-scale agricultural technology promotion services and has achieved a mechanization rate of 90.6 percent for crop cultivation and harvesting.

More than 76 million mu (5 million hectares) of high-standard farmland has been built, and efforts have been intensified to improve the quality of saline-alkaline farmland.

In terms of policy incentives, the province has rewarded five cities with outstanding grain production performance with a total of 20 million yuan ($2.8 million). It has implemented various subsidies, totaling 10.91 billion yuan.