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.

In addition, the pollution of soil by mining and industrial activities has become an increasingly serious threat to agricultural production. About 10 percent of the arable land cultivated by villagers has been polluted by heavy metals to different degrees, according to statistics from the Ministry of Land and Resources.

The construction of high quality farmland should involve the rehabilitation of land polluted by heavy metals and other chemicals, and the protection of other farmland from being contaminated. It should also include the education of farmers on the scientific use of fertilizers and pesticides, so that farming is sustainable.

But perhaps of even greater importance, local governments at all levels need to protect the country's limited arable land from being used for other, more profitable, purposes. The record 2.7 trillion yuan ($423 billion) revenue from land sales nationwide in 2010 speaks volumes about the enthusiasm of local governments to sell land for non-agricultural purposes, especially for realty development.

Obviously, the central government needs to think about providing incentives for local governments to protect farmland and establish high quality fields, and incentives for farmers to cultivate their fields.

Agriculture is no small matter and its importance can never be overestimated. This should always be the central theme of National Land Day.

(China Daily 06/26/2012 page8)