By the end of October, the harvest of maize, rice, wheat and soybean wasover. Table 4.5 lists their revised 2015 production estimates. Table 4.6provides additional detail about production for different rice croppingseasons.

Table 4.5. China, 2015 maize, rice, wheat and soybeanproduction and percentage difference with 2014, by province

Note: *production of Taiwan province is not included.

The production of maize is revised to 193.7 million tons (an increase of1% from 2014), about 900 thousand tons up from the CropWatch August forecast.Rice and wheat production remained the same as in the August forecast, withtheir production increased by 1% and 2% compared with the previous season,respectively. Soybean is revised up to 13.0 million tons (323 thousand tonshigher than the previous CropWatch forecast) but this is still a decrease of 1%due to a reduction in planting area. For rice, single rice production isrevised to 131.5 million tons, an increase of 1% compared with the previousyear, and 1.34 million tons up from the previous forecast. The upward revisionis mainly due to favorable conditions at late growing stages. Early rice andlate rice production remain the same as in the forecast issued by CropWatch inAugust.

Compared to August, the forecast for maize production in Inner Mongolia,Jilin and Shandong was revised upwards by more than 200 thousand tons mainlydue to the revised yield. In contrast, recent remote sensing data show adeterioration compared to the August estimates in Xinjiang and Shanxi wheremaize production was revised down by about 200 and 300 thousand tons. Rice productionfor most provinces was revised up from the August forecast except for Anhui andJiangsu where rice was impacted by flooding and strong wide during mid-August.The unfavorable conditions harmed mainly single rice in Jiangsu andAnhui. 

Driven by most up-to-date remote sensing data, CropWatch models foreseean increase in soybean yield for most provinces that produce except for Shanxi.New estimates show that the soybean production in Heilongjiang province - thetop soybean producing province in China, representing nearly one third of thenational soybean production - is at same level as 2014 and 168 thousand tons upfrom August forecast. 

CropWatch revised the total annual output (including cereals, legumes,and tubers) to 568.1 million tons, 0.8% up from 2014 (a 4.3 million tonsincrease) and 0.4 million tons up from the August forecast. The total summerproduction is forecast at 407.3 million tons, a 0.6% increase (equivalent to2.4 million tons) over last year's drought conditions and slightly above the2013 summer crop production. The production estimates for early rice and wintercrops remain unchanged compared with the August forecast.

Table 4.6. China, 2015 single rice, early rice, and laterice production and percentage difference with 2014, by province

Note: *production of Taiwan province is not included.