China's agriculture ministry said on Thursday it is urging local authorities to persuade farmers to maintain their cotton acreage after a survey showed they intended to grow less of the fibre this year.
Farmers, in the world's largest growing country, are likely to plant 11.6 percent less cotton as planting starts this month because a slowdown in textile exports has cut cotton demand and caused prices to slide, it said in a report posted on its website (www.agri.gov.cn).
"Local authorities shall take effective measures...to try their best to stablise cotton acreage," Vice Minister Wei Chaoan, was quoted as telling a national cotton conference.
Wei said the government has expanded its subsidy on high-yield seeds to farmers in 25 provinces instead of eight, but still this year's production was being pressured by cheap imports and more labour input.
The ministry will promote more high-yield cotton and increase intensive plantings in more areas to help improve returns for farmers, it said.
To shore up domestic prices, Beijing has agreed to buy 2.72 million tonnes for state reserves from farmers, which accounts for 36 percent of the domestic harvest last year.
China, the world's largest cotton consumer, also imported 46 percent less of the fibre in the first two months of the year as demand for textile products from the United States and Europe, its major exporting destinations, has fallen amid the global economic recession.
China imported 14 percent less cotton in 2008 at 2.11 million tonnes, of which nearly half were from the United States.
