CHANGCHUN (CEIS) -- Maize, which used to be staple food for Chinese, is now mainly used for making fodder or as industrial raw materials. Statistics show that over 70 percent of China's 110 million tons annual corn consumption is used for fodder processing. Amounts for food and industrial production account for less than 15 percent. Annual corn yield exceeded 50 million tons by the late 1970s, mainly consumed as staple food. Wheat and rice gradually replaced corn as the staple food in people's diet by the mid 1980s. "We get about 10 tons of corn each year. Only a small amount ends up on the family table," said Liu Shun, a farmer in northeast China's Jilin Province. Exports of corn has increased since the 1990s. From 1991 to 1994 exports reached 36.86 million tons. The structure of Chinese diet has changed considerably in the past decade. The per capita consumption of crops decreased from 172.2 kg in 1980 to 111.6 kg in 1995. The consumption of meat, on the other hand, has increased from 32.7 kg to 42.6 kg. While a large proportion of corn is used for fodder, it is also used for industrial raw materials such in the production of paper, textiles, and pharmaceuticals. Farmers have begun to grow varieties of corn for industrial use. Jilin province has increased its growing area of corn specially for fodder processing and industry to 400,000 hectares, said provincial officials in charge of agriculture. Analysts say that the more consumption of meat will surely see a further increase in corn used as raw material for fodder processing.