China's central government announced funding for the use of water-saving irrigation technologies in major grain-producing regions, a move aimed at boosting grain output for the country's 1.3 billion people.

According to a joint statement issued by the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Water Resources and the Ministry of Agriculture, China will invest 38 billion yuan (6.03 billion U.S. dollars) in water-saving irrigation projects covering 2.53 million hectares of farmland in Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning provinces and Inner Mongolia autonomous region.

According to the statement, the funding will be used mainly to promote trickle irrigation and micro-sprinkler irrigation in those regions.