Rating system to help protect prime farmland

China has released a rating system to assess land quality, in the first such effort in decades to protect shrinking arable land from being used for non-agricultural purposes.

"Based on the land quality rating, we will map out a national arable land protection zone to cover most arable land of high quality and prevent it from being lost to urbanization, thus ensuring our food security," Hu Cunzhi, chief planner of the Ministry of Land and Resources, said during a press conference in Beijing yesterday.

According to the rating, the land has been categorized into 15 grades. Grade 1 is for arable land that is capable of annually producing over 21,000 kg of grain per hectare, with each subsequent category having grain yields of 1,500 kg less per hectare between grades, Hu said.