China has identified more than 1.2 billion mu of unpolluted arable land

The China Geological Survey recently released the Report on the Geochemical Survey of Arable Land in China (2015). This is the first time China has carried out a “health check” on arable land nationwide. The report shows that China has identified 1.272 billion mu of unpolluted arable land, accounting for 91.8% of the total arable land area covered by this survey, mainly distributed in the Jiangsu-Zhejiang-Shanghai area, the Northeast area, the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei-Shandong area, the Northwest area, the Shanxi-Henan area and the Qinghai-Tibet area.

The survey results also show that moderate-to-severe heavy metal pollution or exceedance accounts for 2.5%, covering an area of 34.88 million mu, while slight-to-mild pollution or exceedance accounts for 5.7%, covering an area of 78.99 million mu. In addition, soil organic matter has declined in some areas, and a trend of soil alkalinization in the north has appeared at the same time as a trend of soil acidification in the south.

According to the introduction, this survey is the professional survey work so far in which China has systematically organized and completed the analysis of the most elements, with the highest survey precision and the strictest implementation standards. Through high-precision testing of 54 element indicators in more than 600,000 samples of soil, water, organisms and other materials, more than 30 million data points were obtained, a national and 31 provincial (regional and municipal) land geochemical dynamic database was established, and the geochemical status of arable land was evaluated.