Maize is one of the main crops in China, with the country ranking second in the world after the USA. Maize planted in China includes spring maize in single crop cool season regions, and summer maize planted after winter wheat. Spring maize is mainly planted in Northeast rain-feed area, and Northwest irrigated area, and summer maize is mainly planted in the Northcentral irrigated area, Southwest upland area, and southern highland area.
Fig.1 and Fig.2 showed that Jilin province topped first with maize planting area (10.4% of national), then followed by Shandong (10.2%), Hebei (9.9%), Henan (9.6%), Heilongjiang (9.1%), and then Liaoning (7.0%), Inner Mongolia (6.9%), Shanxi (4.5%), Sichuan (4.4%), Yunan (4.4%) and Shaanxi (4.2%), other countries were less than 4.2% of national planting level.

Fig.1 Provincial maize planting area in China

Fig.2 Percentage of maize planting area from the national level in 2006

The top three provinces with higher maize yield in 2006 were Qinghai, Xinjiang and Ningxia, with average yield of 8 t/ha, 7.2 t/ha and 6.9 t/ha, respectively. This was followed by Jilin, Shanghai, Shandong, Liaoning and Inner Mongolia, with yields of 7.1 t/ha, 6.9 t/ha, 6.4 t/ha, 6.0 t/ha and 5.9 t/ha, respectively. Separately, the average yield of other countries were below 5.9 t/ha.

Due to the highest planting area, maize production in Jilin received top first, and then followed closely by Shandong, Henan and Hebei, thereafter by Heilongjiang, Liaoning, Inner Mongolia and Shanxi, which accounted for 72.6% of maize production.

Fig.3 Provincial maize yield in China in 2006

Fig.4 Provincial maize production in China in 2006