BEIJING, April 29 (Xinhua) -- China will maintain the lowest procurement price for grain not lower than the 2006 level in 2007,sources with the National Development and Reform Commission said on Sunday.

    China has since 2004 carried out a bottom price system for grain procurement, in order to ensure stable grain production, safeguard farmers' interests and protect their enthusiasm for farming. The nation will continue to implement the policy this year, the sources said.

    Given the world largest population of 1.3 billion, China has for years attached great importance to grain security and arable land protection.

    Last year China produced more than 490 million tons of grain, realizing an output growth for three consecutive years.

    However, China has seen a continuous shrinkage of farmland. At the end of 2006, its arable land declined by 306,000 hectares to 121.8 million hectares from the 122 million hectares a year ago. The nation has set a bottom line for arable land security at 120 million hectares.

    According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the acreage of grain is estimated to total 106.1 million hectares this year, a growth of 0.5 percent year on year.

    The NDRC sources said the bottom price system for grain procurement would also be conducive to stabilizing grain prices on the domestic market.

    Driven up by price hikes for grain, China's consumer price index, or CPI, rose 2.7 percent in the first quarter. Grain price went up 6.4 percent in March, when CPI rose 3.3 percent year on year.