Winter wheat and total winter crops production were estimated by integrating several high resolution satellite images,  agro-climatic indicators as well as sample surveys of winter wheat and rapeseed fieds in Anhui, Hubei, Shaanxi and other provinces. 

Winter crop condition in the main producing areas was generally favorable. The overall precipitation in January to April was about 20% higher than the average, and the temperature was slightly above ( +0.6 °C), were conducive to the development and growth of winter crops.

The total output of winter crops is estimated to be 127.45 million tons. Compared with 2018, the increase is about 1.23 million tons, up 1.0% from 2018 (Table 4.2).

Table 4.2. China, 2019 winter crops production (thousand tons) and percentage difference with 2018, by province

* Production of Taiwan province is not included.

Adverse weather conditions affected Hebei, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Hubei, and Chongqing Provinces where both yield and planted area were below 2018 values. The largest drop of winter crop production occurred in Hebei and Shaanxi provinces, with a reduction of 358 thousand tons and 384 thousand tons, respectively. Henan and Shandong provinces, the top two provinces in terms of winter crop production, both recovered from their poor situation in  2018, and produced 728 thousand tons and 1323 thousand tons more than 2018 respectively, with a year-on-year increase of 2.8% and 5.6%. Both planted area and average yield in Henan and Shandong have increased simultaneously. The output of winter crops in other provinces also increased over 2018.

The total winter wheat production in 2019 is estimated to reach 117.26 million tons, an increase of 1.35 million tons or 1.2% from 2018. The national winter wheat area is 23,314.8 thousand hectares, an increase of 0.4% over the same period of last year, mainly due to the contributions of the two main winter wheat producing provinces of Henan and Shandong. The average winter wheat yield nationally was 5029 kg/ha, an increase of about 0.7% compared to 2018 (Table 4.3).

Both planted area and average yield of winter wheat in Henan, Shandong, Jiangsu, and Sichuan increased above 2018 values, leading to an increase of 724 thousand tons, 1318 thousand tons, 260 thousand tons and 169 thousand tons, respectively. Favorable weather conditions in Gansu where most winter crops are rain-fed benefited the sowing and crop development, resulting in a signficant increase of 10.2% in lanted area and 124 thousand tons increase of production. Water deficit in Shaanxi, Shanxi and Hebei leads to large yield drop and the winter wheat productions are 348 thousand tons, 462 thousand tons, and 161 thousand tons lower than 2018. It needs to be highlighted that the production drop in Shaanxi is 8.4%, the largest annual winter crop production drop in percentage since 2013. The winter wheat planted area in Hubei province is 6.2% down from 2018, the largest drop among all major producing provinces, leading to 7.2% production reduction.

Table 4.3. China, 2019 winter wheat area, yield,and production and percentage difference with 2018, by province

* Production of Taiwan province is not included.