China food security: ‘astonishing’ food loss, wastefulness worsen grain situation, state media warns

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China cannot afford to pull any punches in tackling its “astonishing” food loss and waste as the nation strives to ensure grain security in a time of bleak yield growth, a state media commentary said amid lingering concerns over the pressure facing the global agricultural system.

In the face of rising food-security challenges, realising just a 1 per cent rise in this summer’s wheat harvest from last year’s record-high level came at a massive cost to the central government, local governments and hundreds of millions of farmers, according to Thursday’s commentary in the official Economic Daily newspaper.