China 2010 cotton output falls 6.3 pct

BEIJING, Feb 28 - China's cotton output fell 6.3 percent in 2010 to 5.97 million tonnes, China's National Bureau of Statistics said in an annual yearbook issued on Monday.

A cotton industry estimate had previously said 2010 production would fall by 7.6 percent, although that forecast used a different figure for absolute production.

But the NBS figure is a much steeper fall than the 2.8 percent decrease given by a vice agricultural minister on Dec. 30.

The NBS said cotton acreage fell by 100,000 hectares to 6.85 million hectares.

In other agricultural commodities, the Bureau said meat output rose 3.6 percent to 79.25 million tonnes, including beef production which rose 2.7 percent 6.53 million tonnes and pork output, which rose 3.7 percent to 50.7 million tonnes.

It reiterated an overall figure for grains production of 546.41 million tonnes, but did not give a breakdown between rice, corn and wheat.