At a work conference on development of the suburbs on Wednesday, the Shanghai government pledged to guarantee an annual grain output of 1 billion kilograms.

It also promised to realize local sourcing of half the city's vegetable demand.

Officials said the government will make efforts to keep a stable supply of agricultural food and prevent food prices from rising too fast.

Long-term stable supply channels of agricultural food must be built because the city mainly depends on food from other provinces and cities, the conference was told.

Vice Mayor Hu Yanzhao said the city should cooperate with food-production areas by making orders and building production bases.

"We should ensure enough supply of good-quality agricultural food with abundant species," Hu said.

Both Party Secretary Yu Zhengsheng and Mayor Han Zheng stressed the importance of improving farmers' income. The per capita annual disposable income of local farmers has increased by more than 10 percent in the past four years. Last year, the amount reached 10,222 yuan (US$1,460).

"We encourage farmers to join in specialized cooperatives," Han said. "We must develop large-scale agricultural production and companies to achieve further agriculture development."

Shanghai is currently home to 705 agricultural cooperatives engaged in the farming of juicy peaches, flowers, strawberries and other products, plus 435 big agricultural companies. About 570,000 farmer families have benefited from joining the cooperatives or companies.

Officials said the government will help offer jobs to low-income farmer families whose per capita annual disposable income is below 4,000 yuan.

Infrastructure construction in the suburbs is another important task for the government, the conference heard. Officials said buses reached 75 percent of suburban areas, and they will reach every village in the near future.

The central government issued a statement on Tuesday, promising to keep domestic grain supplies and prices stable. Reserves across the country can meet demand for at least six months, officials said.

China's grain production exceeded 501.5 billion kilograms last year and is almost equal to the annual consumption of 510 billion kilograms.

(Shanghai Daily May 8, 2008)