President Xi Jinping emphasized the importance of making preparations for spring farming in order to ensure sufficient grain output and food security, during his inspection of the city of Changde in Central China's Hunan province on Tuesday.

Xi said that greater efforts should be made to ensure a sufficient supply of agricultural materials and deepen the integration of high-quality seeds, farming methods, farming machinery and farmland.

He also called on authorities at all levels to put into place supportive policies for agriculture and farmers to ensure grain farmers' incomes and encourage them to plant grain in order to secure a good start for the whole year.

Xi's remarks came a day after a national conference on spring agricultural production, as well as disaster prevention, reduction and relief efforts, was convened in Xinxiang, Henan province.

Premier Li Qiang said in an instruction that local governments should be fully prepared for spring plowing, and provide greater policy support and technical guidance for agricultural production.

These efforts aim to help the country achieve another bumper harvest and firmly underpin its high-quality social and economic development, Li said.