Agriculture Minister: Agricultural resources have long been overdrawn and over-exploited, there is no idle farmland left anywhere
China News Service, September 14 (Reporter) - The latest issue of Study Times published a Q&A with Han Changfu, Secretary of the Party Leadership Group and Minister of Agriculture, on unswervingly advancing sustainable agricultural development. Han Changfu pointed out that while China's agriculture has achieved tremendous successes, it has also paid a heavy price: on the one hand, agricultural resources have long been overdrawn and over-exploited, with a high multiple cropping index and no idle farmland left anywhere, and the string of resource utilization is being pulled tighter and tighter; on the other hand, agricultural non-point source pollution has worsened, agro-ecosystems have degraded, and the carrying capacity of the ecological environment is getting closer and closer to its limit.
The full text of the Q&A is as follows:
Our country has reached the historical stage of accelerating the advancement of sustainable agricultural development
Reporter: Hello, Minister Han. Everyone is very concerned about the issue of sustainable agricultural development after our country's grain production achieved an “eleven consecutive increases.” How do you view the current stage of development facing agricultural production?
Han Changfu: Since the beginning of the new century, the construction of modern agriculture in our country has been accelerated, and the development of the agricultural and rural economy has entered the best historical period. We have now reached the historical stage of accelerating the advancement of sustainable agricultural development. The main reasons for saying this are based on two points.
With consecutive years of increased production and income in agriculture and the level of agricultural productivity reaching a new stage, we have the conditions and the ability to advance sustainable agricultural development. Grain production achieved an “eleven consecutive increases,” breaking the years-long cyclical pattern of “two bumper years, one average year, and one poor year.” In 2014, total grain output reached 1,214.2 billion jin, remaining stable above 1,200 billion jin for two consecutive years. Other important agricultural products also had bumper harvests, with ample supply and stable prices. At the same time, agricultural infrastructure, scientific and technological equipment, disaster resistance capacity, and the quality of farmers have all made considerable progress. In 2014, the contribution rate of agricultural scientific and technological progress reached 56%, major crops, especially grain crops, basically achieved full coverage of improved varieties, the comprehensive mechanization level of cultivation, planting, and harvesting reached 61%, and the proportion of effectively irrigated farmland reached 52%. The development of our country's agriculture has shifted from mainly relying on increased input of resource factors in the past to mainly relying on scientific and technological progress, and the mode of agricultural production has changed from being dominated by human and animal power for thousands of years to being dominated by mechanical operations. This is a remarkable historical achievement. Now, the development of our country's agricultural and rural economy stands at a new historical starting point, providing a material foundation, strategic space, and important opportunities for accelerating the advancement of sustainable agricultural development.
The challenges and contradictions facing agricultural development have accumulated and converged, forcing agriculture to transform its development mode and take the path of sustainable development. Our country has a large population but little land and scarce water; per capita arable land area and freshwater resources account for only 1/3 and 1/4 of the world average, respectively. China uses 10% of the world's arable land and about 6% of its freshwater resources to feed 20% of the world's population. Of course, while China's agriculture has achieved tremendous successes, it has also paid a heavy price. On the one hand, agricultural resources have long been overdrawn and over-exploited, with a high multiple cropping index and no idle farmland left anywhere, and the string of resource utilization is being pulled tighter and tighter; on the other hand, agricultural non-point source pollution has worsened, agro-ecosystems have degraded, and the carrying capacity of the ecological environment is getting closer and closer to its limit. Agricultural development faces the “two tight headbands” of resource conditions and the ecological environment. Accelerating the transformation of the development mode and achieving sustainable development is imminent and brooks no delay.
Reporter: In your view, what kind of goals must agriculture achieve to realize sustainable development?
Han Changfu: General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized at the Central Economic Work Conference at the end of last year that we must unswervingly transform the agricultural development mode and take the path of modern agricultural development featuring high output efficiency, safe products, resource conservation, and environmental friendliness. Premier Li Keqiang pointed out at the Central Rural Work Conference that we must promote the building of resource-conserving and environment-friendly modern agriculture. Recently, with the consent of the State Council, the Ministry of Agriculture, the National Development and Reform Commission, and six other departments jointly issued the National Plan for Sustainable Agricultural Development (2015—2030), which is a programmatic document guiding sustainable agricultural development for the period ahead. Advancing sustainable agricultural development is a systematic project, and the goal is to achieve “three sustainabilitys.”
Sustainable national food security. This is the primary goal of sustainable agricultural development and also the primary task of modern agricultural construction. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized that solving the problem of feeding the people is always a matter of the highest importance in governing the country; as long as there are no major problems with grain, China's affairs will remain stable. To achieve sustainable food security, we must steadily improve the comprehensive agricultural production capacity and risk resistance capacity, keep grain production capacity consolidated at the 1.2 trillion jin level, avoid sharp fluctuations in production, and basically balance supply and demand. In particular, we must ensure “basic self-sufficiency in grains and absolute security of staple food,” with rice and wheat flour mainly relying on ourselves, so that the rice bowl of 1.3 billion Chinese people is firmly held in our own hands, maintaining stable and sustainable grain production and ensuring sustainable grain supply.
Sustainable increases in farmers' incomes. This is the central task of agricultural and rural economic work and also the fundamental task of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects in rural areas. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized that whether a society is moderately prosperous or not depends on the fellow villagers. To build a moderately prosperous society in all respects, the foundation lies in agriculture, the difficulty lies in rural areas, and the key lies in farmers, especially farmers in poverty-stricken areas. At present, “farming and raising livestock” is still a basic channel for farmers' employment and income growth. The current problem is that agricultural efficiency is not high and farming does not make money. This requires us to vigorously develop high-yield, high-quality, efficient, ecological, and safe agriculture, continuously improve the efficiency of agricultural production and operation, and make agriculture an industry with prospects; accelerate the establishment of a long-term mechanism for sustained increases in farmers' incomes, ensure that per capita rural income doubles by 2020 compared with 2010, and ensure that during the “13th Five-Year Plan” period the growth rate continues to be higher than the growth rates of GDP and urban residents' incomes, so that the broad masses of farmers enter a moderately prosperous society in all respects in step with the rest.
Sustainable resources and environment. This is the direction of modern agricultural development and also a prominent problem that must be addressed at present. To ease the excessively tight pressure on resources and improve the polluted agricultural ecological environment, the fundamental way out lies in advancing sustainable agricultural development. That means, by transforming the agricultural development mode, accelerating the development of resource-conserving, environment-friendly, and ecological conservation-oriented agriculture, adhering to equal emphasis on “utilization” and “protection and governance,” promoting efficient resource use, a good production area environment, and stable ecosystems, and leaving fertile farmland and green mountains and clear waters to future generations.
The prominent problems in current farmland protection are quantity reduction and quality decline
Reporter: Farmland protection has always been an issue of relatively great public concern, and it is also a key issue affecting and constraining sustainable agricultural development. Could you introduce the situation in this regard?
Han Changfu: At present, the prominent problems in our country's farmland protection are quantity reduction and quality decline. In terms of quantity: from 1996—2011, the country's net arable land decreased by 125 million mu, mostly nearby and good land around cities. After implementing the balance of occupied and supplementary farmland, the downward momentum in the absolute quantity of arable land has been somewhat curbed, but the problems of occupying nearby land and supplementing with distant land, occupying good land and supplementing with poor land, and occupying irrigated land and supplementing with dry land are relatively prominent. The quality of supplementary arable land is generally 2—3 grades lower than that of the occupied arable land. The Second National Land Survey showed an arable land area of 2.03 billion mu. It appears to be 200 million mu more, but this is actually due to differences in survey methods and means and the release of previously hidden tax-exempt areas. This land had always been cultivated, and it did not appear out of thin air. Moreover, according to assessments by the land authorities, 150 million mu of it is relatively unstable arable land or poor-quality land, which will gradually be withdrawn in the future. Therefore, we must never waver on the red line of arable land. In terms of quality: at the end of last year, the Ministry of Agriculture released the national arable land quality grade bulletin, showing that relatively good-quality arable land accounted for 27.3% of the total area. At present, medium- and low-yield fields account for about 2/3 nationwide, and a large amount still depends on the weather. The problem of arable land degradation is also relatively prominent, and the trend of black soil degradation in the Northeast region deserves attention.
General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized that farmland protection must be done as if protecting cultural relics, and even as if protecting giant pandas. This is because a large population with little land is our country's basic national condition. To protect the quantity of arable land, the key is to promptly delineate permanent basic farmland, strictly control the scale of construction land, and achieve “two in place” in both the quantity and quality of supplementary farmland in the balance of occupied and supplementary arable land. To improve arable land quality, we must grasp both software and hardware. On the hardware side, increase efforts in building high-standard farmland, with the state planning to build 800 million mu; on the software side, promote the implementation of actions to protect and improve arable land quality, and achieve “storing grain in the land” and “storing grain in technology.”