Improving farm fields

Developing high quality fields to ensure the country's food security was the theme for the 22nd National Land Day on Monday. With only 10 percent of the world's arable land to feed 22 percent of the world's population, China is under increasingly heavy pressure to protect and better manage its arable land.

The country has set the target of developing 400 million mu (27 million hectares) of high quality fields to guarantee its food security, one-quarter of them in 2012. During the 11th Five-Year Plan period (2006-10), the output of farmland, which was turned into high quality fields, increased by 10 to 20 percent per mu (0.06 hectares).

However, apart from high quality farmland, there are other challenges that need to be overcome to guarantee the country's food security. Overuse of fertilizers and pesticides, along with the over-cultivation of farmland, will take their toll on the nation's agriculture if measures are not taken to curb them in the years to come.