Wheat acreage up 5%

China's wheat crop is projected to cover 21.20 million hectares this year, an increase of one million hectares representing a growth of nearly 5% in the amount of land allocted for the grain, according to the State Grain and Edible Oil Information Center. Officials attributed the rise to the 40% increase in the price of wheat over the summer. Regions with the sharpest increase in wheat acreage were Shanxi and Xinjiang, but that was largely on the back of a decrease in wheat planting last year. Wheat planting in Hebei province covered an extra 100,000 hectares this year, a rise of 4.6%. Shandong reported its wheat crop covered an extra 100,000 hectares too, raising its total land commitment to the grain by 3.23% over last year.