High-yield technology will be spread further among China's farmers to improve the production and quality of wheat, maize, rice, potatoes and oil-bearing crops, a Ministry of Science and Technology official said.

Previously small-scale and scattered farming techniques will be replaced by large-scale wheat production using modern farming skills in areas of North and Central China suitable for growing the grain.

To help farmers earn more money, scientific and agricultural sectors in different regions are being encouraged to develop special industries based on local natural resources.

Scientific workers will also teach farmers more skills for processing farm produce, such as fruit, vegetables, soybeans and peanuts, Jia Jingdun, an official with the ministry's Department for Rural and Social Development, said.

Moreover, the ministry has started a programme to develop the dairy industry in order to provide higher-quality milk products for the population.

Techniques have been developed for preventing cattle epidemics. The per capita consumption of dairy products has risen to 10 kilograms from 6 kilograms five years ago, according to the ministry.

Jia said: "The crucial issue is to improve the quality of agricultural production, as the country's quantity of grain production is already sufficient."

To maintain sustainable agricultural development, more work is needed to conserve water, while technologies are needed to combat sandstorms and desertification to protect the ecosystem.

"There is no problem with ensuring a sufficient food supply for the whole nation as long as the country is not hit by large-scale and continuous natural disasters," said Jia.

The popularization of advanced agricultural technology and high-yielding crop seeds has greatly helped increase the output of maize, wheat and rice over the past three years, according to the ministry's information department.

A two-parented species of hybrid rice, for example, has been planted on more than 3.67 million hectares over the past five years, increasing annual rice output by 2.7 million tons.

China's current grain production capacity is nearly 500 million tons, which is sufficient, said ministry official Wu Zhongze.

However, farmers' incomes must be increased as a matter of urgency through the restructuring of agricultural production, such as equipping farmers with new skills for processing farm produce.

Over the last five years, the per capita income of farmers has grown by less than 4 per cent a year, lower than the rate for urban residents, Wu said.