Soybeans are harvested in Heilongjiang province. [File photo/Xinhua]

China is confident it will achieve its annual goal for grain production capacity despite the difficulties and problems posed by the novel coronavirus outbreak on spring farming, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said on Thursday.

Pan Wenbo, director of the ministry's department of plantation management, said the ministry has worked with other departments to encourage more farming material enterprises to resume work and tackle other restrictions on spring farming.

Spring farming has just started in China and the overall progress is similar as before, Pan said at a daily news conference.

Governors are responsible for the overall grain production of the provinces. The spring farming will be an important factor to evaluate their work and the production of spring farming should reach the average level previously, he said.

The government will also issue more favorable policies to encourage farmers to start spring farming, including setting the minimum purchasing price and offering subsidies to farmers, he said.

Zhang Yanqiu, director of the ministry's department of seeds supervision, said major difficulties to ensure the stable supply of agricultural materials are traffic blockages and closed enterprises during the epidemic, especially in Hubei province, one of China's largest commodity grain production bases.

The ministry has set up a time schedule for the province to start spring farming and various departments have arranged companies at nearby provinces to offer agricultural materials needed in Hubei, he said.

He called for transport authorities and logistics companies to prioritize the transportation of agricultural materials.

Currently, 92 percent of the country's 362 major seed companies and 70 percent of its 1,400 major pesticide companies have resumed work, he said.