China has cut the 2018 minimum purchase price for the grain in the first such move since the policy was launched more than a decade ago to help reduce stocks and adjust to the market. The government cut the price to 2,300 yuan($346) per tonne, down 2.5 percent from last year. The government buys wheat from farmers at the minimum price when the market price drops below that level. But the policy has led to growing state stocks of the grain, even as China continues to import other types of wheat from abroad. As early as February, a key policy document had warned that the minimum purchase price for wheat needed to be appropriately adjusted. Since then, officials have reiterated the need to adjust the price. However the small cut is expected to have little impact on total wheat acreage, with few better alternatives for grain farmers. China produced 127.35 million tonnes of wheat this year, up almost 1 percent on 2016.