JINAN - The roar of combine harvesters in China's major breadbasket of Shandong province signalled the beginning of the wheat harvest on Monday.

The Ministry of Agriculture on Friday forecast an output rise of summer grain and the 11th consecutive bumper harvest. Wang Fahong, a wheat expert with the Shandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, said both per-unit wheat yield and total yield this year in Shandong would increase.

China produced 120 million tons of wheat last year, one fifth of the world's total. The planting area of summer grain is estimated at 27.67 million ha this year, almost 70,000 ha more than in 2012.

This year, more than 14 million mechanical harvesters will be used for 92 percent of the harvesting work.

Shen Hongyuan, senior analyst of the Zhengzhou Grain Wholesale Market, said that China's wheat harvest was important in keeping the world's wheat price stable.

The Chicago agricultural commodity futures traded lower on Friday in response to the forecast. The price of wheat closed at $6.27 per bushel, down by 0.83 percent from the previous day trading.

Steady year seen for wheat imports despite dry weather	Wheat harvest season in China