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More Farmland Needed in China
China, a rising giant with 1.3 billion mouths to feed, is now facing a severe task to protect its decreasing arable land.
"The task ahead is tough. If we remain inactive in the face of decreasing arable land, our food supply will be at risk," said Wang Tao, an official with the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress.
Currently, China has 666 counties whose cultivated land per capita has fallen below the limit set by the United Nations, which is 0.25 hectare per person.
In central Hubei Province, a major grain and rice producer, the cultivated land per capita stands at 0.08 hectare, even below the country's average of 0.11 hectare.
"We are trying to develop the land that is suitable for farming, but has not been tilled before," said Han Yong, head of the province's land management bureau.
"However, the problem is not as easy to solve as expected," he said. The first problem that needs to be dealt with is where the money for the reclamation of new land comes from, Han said.
According to the Land Management Law, if an individual or a local government has occupied farmland for non-farming purposes, they should pay a sum of money to the local land bureau for developing new land.
But many land users failed to do so, leading to a serious shortage of funds, according to Zhang Wanli, a land expert with the Ministry of Land and Resource (MLR).
Moreover, China's current afforestation efforts also put pressure on those provinces without sufficient arable land for their population, said Su Weixin, another expert with MLR.
"The government's campaign to give some farmland back to nature cannot be blamed when we consider the deterioration of environment, but as far as the size of China's population and the subsequent desperate need for farmland is concerned, it is a disaster," Su said.
In 1999, China returned 400,000 hectares of arable land to forest, an increase of 230,000 compared with the previous year. Local governments nationwide are now seeking ways out of the conundrum. In Qianjiang city in Hubei province for example, the local government has helped move farmers from the countryside to the town.
The relocation method is effective, but requires a lot of money, expert said. They suggested that local government avoid building on arable land and those who abuse the land laws be severely punished.
It was also important to make good use of the existing farmland and to increase yields and improve crop quality, they added.
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