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China's grain imports in 2011 surpassed 61 million tons, indicatingthat its overall self-sufficiency rate in grain was less than 90percent. For the past few years, China has insisted that, to ensure nationalfood security, 95 percent is the bottom line of the country's grainself-sufficiency requirement. "But now the volume of imported grain has reached 10.7 percent ofthe domestic grain output. I am afraid this will affect grainsecurity if the imported amount keeps increasing," said Chen Xiwen,Director of the Office for the Communist Party of China (CPC)Central Committee's Leading Group on Rural Work, in March. The supply of other major agricultural produce in China alsodepends increasingly on the international market. According toCustoms statistics, China imported about 4 million tons of cornfrom the United States and 52.6 million tons of soybeans fromoverseas markets in 2011. To avoid becoming too reliant on imports, Chen suggested that thecountry increase its grain output by protecting arable land andfurther improving agriculture through science and technology. Preserving farmland Despite the country's enormous demand for grain, farmland in Chinahas shrunk over the past decade. According to the Ministry of Land and Resources (MLR), China'sfarmland has shrunk by more than 8 million hectares since 1997. InAugust last year, China had less than 121.7 million hectares ofarable land, MLR figures showed. To ensure grain security, China has set a "redline" to guaranteeits arable land never falls below 120 million hectares. Land use sanctioned by local governments to construct projects suchas golf courses, railways and industrial parks, is an obstacle tothe nation's farmland preservation, according to the ministry. "Local governments' reliance on land transfer as a major revenuesource poses a threat to the country's grain security," Chen said.He pointed out that some local governments are using the name "landreform" to expropriate arable land, causing the amount of availablearable land to decrease in quantity and quality. According to the MLR, the area of land use projects that violatestate farmland preservation policies surged 11 percent year on yearto 16,400 hectares in the first nine months of 2011. Environmental pollution from the excessive use of agriculturalchemicals and the inappropriate disposal of heavy metal has alsotaken its toll. Heavy metal pollution has so far damaged approximately 10 percentof the country's farmland and caused the loss of 12 million tons ofgrain every year, according to research by the Institute ofGeographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research of the ChineseAcademy of Sciences (CAS). In 2011, China restored a total of 300,000 hectares of farmland anddeveloped 4 million hectares of high-quality farmland, according toMLR data. The ministry plans to add 27 million hectares of high-qualityfarmland throughout the country by the end of 2015. "The CentralGovernment has attached great importance to preserving farmland andlocal governments have also enhanced their efforts to protectfarmland in recent years," Xu said. I am an expert from pp-non-woven-fabric.com, while we provides the quality product, such as China Medical Non Woven Fabric , Boot Supports, Spunbond Non Woven Fabric,and more.
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