China's summer grain output in 2010 fell for the first time in seven years, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on July 12.

Summer grain output fell to 123.1 million tons this year, down 0.3 percent from a year ago, the NBS said on its website.

The drop in output was due mainly to the drought in China's southwestern regions earlier this year, with output in Guizhou and Yunnan provinces down 1.69 million tons.

Despite a slight expansion in the area of land under cultivation, up 0.1 percent, the yield per hectare dropped 0.4 percent year on year to 4,489.3 kg per hectare.

Agriculture Minister Han Changfu warned in June that the severe drought in the southwest of the country and extreme cold in the north of the country earlier this year have undermined the country's summer grain harvest.