security program. The plan said the country's grain output should reach 540 million tons in 2020.

At the meeting, Premier Wen Jiabao pointed out that the country's food security situation in general is good with high grain productivity, diversified food supplies and balanced market supply and demand. But he also pointed out several factors that might hinder grain output, such as the quick pace of urbanization and industrialization, population surges and a rising living standard. The shrinking of cultivated lands, water shortages and climate change might pose increasing threats to grain output, he said.

To achieve the goals set out in the plan, the State Council said the household contract responsibility system, adopted 30 years ago, would remain unchanged for a longer period of time.

The Central Government would also take measures to preserve cultivated lands at no less than 120 million hectares. The meeting participants proposed to strengthen agricultural infrastructure construction, especially irrigation and water supply facilities, in a bid to raise farmland productivity. They also suggested increasing farmers' income and subsidies for grain producers. They emphasized the importance of applying scientific production mechanisms to raising productivity and suggested that citizens become more aware of not wasting food.

But Zhu Xigang, a CAAS researcher, said he doubted whether the government's good intentions could really work, because current economic conditions did not appear optimistic. The series of devastating natural disasters that have rocked China this year as well as rising international prices of raw materials, such as crude oil and grain, would likely lead to higher prices for industrial and agricultural products, he said.

"The rising cost of grain production will definitely push grain prices higher," Zhu said.

Although international grain prices have had a minimal effect on China's grain market, they eventually would be passed on to the domestic market, Zhu said. To prevent this from happening, the country should take serious precautions regarding food security despite its big summer harvest, he said.