BEIJING -
Experts have warned that China's arable land might
drop below the "red line" of 120 million hectares
in six years' time because of rampant illegal use.
The Ministry of Land and Resources
recently announced the land-use plan for this
year, saying the area of cultivated land to be
used for construction will be basically the same
as last year.
But official statistics show
construction took up 289,000 hectares
of
farmland last year, slightly more than the planned
267,000 hectares. The area of arable land has
shrunk by 307,000 hectares in the past year.
"If arable land shrinks at such a pace,
the red line will be breached in six years," an
official was quoted by Shanghai-based China
Business News as saying.
For China,
retaining 120 million hectares of arable land
until 2020 is essential for food security.
With nearly 500 million tons of grain
produced from the current 122 million hectares of
cultivated land, China has been able to just meet
the food demand of 1.3 billion people.
"As
the total population will keep growing, food
supply for so many people can only be met with the
retention of 120 million hectares of farmland,"
said Chen Zhouqi, director of the research center
under the Land Ministry.
Once farmland is
used for construction, it is difficult to recover,
experts warn.
China's farmland has been
shrinking fast in the past few years. During the
10th Five-Year Plan (2000-05), the annual loss of
arable land was 1.23 million hectares.
The
11th Five-Year plan (2006-10) has vowed to keep at
least 120 million hectares of cultivated land by
2010, which means the annual loss of arable land
should be less than 433,000 hectares.
But
the government wants the red line to be safe until
2020. Insiders speculate that this might be the
reason the land-utilization plan for 2006-20,
which the ministry started drafting in July 2005,
has still not been approved.
Difficulty
lies in the implementation of the policy at local
levels.
"Local governments all have their
own development goals and are not afraid of losing
arable land," said Zhang Fengrong, a professor
with China Agriculture University, at a meeting
organized by the Land Ministry to seek solutions.
To curb overheated investments in fixed
assets, the ministry decided to control land use
strictly, and introduced a nationwide land
regulatory system last year. Nine land inspection
bodies will be set up by July to supervise land
use and management by local governments, which
often approve illegal investment projects despite
central macro-control policies.
The Land
Ministry also strictly controls the building of
villas, golf courses and training centers for
local-government departments and state-owned
enterprises.
The number of illegal
land-use cases increased last year. The central
government detected 131,077 cases, 17.3% up year
on year. The area of land involved surged 76.7% to
nearly 100,000 hectares, according to the
ministry.
The warning came as the State
Council, China's cabinet, is to start the second
national survey of land on July 1, part of a major
effort to draw a clearer picture of the country's
farmland.
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