This slogan was put forward when China's industrial base was weak and grain production was relatively backward. At that time, faced with the problem of insufficient food supply, China put forward the slogan of "taking food as the key link", asking farmers to take food as the primary task and strengthen agricultural production. At the same time, in order to meet the needs of national construction and national defense, the slogan of "taking steel as the key link" was put forward, requiring all walks of life to serve steel production and strengthen the development of steel industry.
However, in practice, one-sided emphasis on the importance of steel production and grain production has neglected the development of many other industries, which has led to a series of problems. Therefore, the slogan of "taking steel as the key link and grain as the key link" was later considered as a special product of a historical period and should not be blindly pursued.