On 28 February, the Government raised the Minimum Purchasing Price (MPP) for early Indica rice from last year’s price of CNY 2 400 per tonne to CNY 2420 per tonne and for mid-season and late crop Indica rice from CNY 2 520 per tonne to CNY 2540 per tonne. This is the first increase of the country’s rice MPP since 2014. In addition, the National Food and Strategic Reserves Administration set a limit on the annual procurement of rice at MPP of 50 million tonnes (20 million tonnes for Indica rice and 30 million tonnes for Japonica rice). The measure aims to bolster rice output and prices to be paid to farmers are set after considering the production costs, market supply and demand, as well as prices in both domestic and international markets, among other factors.