The "grain vs. fruit competing for land" issue needs to be re-examined from a different angle

Does the logic of competition for land between agricultural industries hold up?

Yesterday I was still thinking about the non-grain use of land in fruit-growing areas, and today I heard the concept of “grain vs. fruit competing for land.” Liujiagou Town in Penglai City, Shandong Province, has 61 villages and 30,000 people. Of the town's 60,000 mu of farmland, fruit trees cover about 30,000 mu, mainly apples, grapes and cherries. In terms of quantity, grain cultivation accounts for only half of the total farmland area, and more and more grain fields are being transferred through land circulation to local enterprises for fruit tree planting. This undoubtedly gives the impression of “grain vs. fruit competing for land.” Through our research, we found that this view is open to question.

According to reports, local farmland is divided into three grades. Grade I and II land of better quality accounts for less than one third of the total, while most farmland has thinner soil, steeper slopes and is more scattered, making cultivation difficult. When farmers grow grain on poorer farmland, they are basically at the mercy of the weather, with low yields and high costs, and large areas have been left abandoned. The local Xinyuan Industry and Trade Company transferred land from farmers, cut slopes and improved the surrounding barren hills and field ridges, switched to fruit tree planting, and adopted industrial and ecological management concepts, achieving good economic returns. I think this is not "competing for land" at all, but rather achieving efficient use of land and turning wasteland into a "golden mountain."

There are several reasons why the perception of "competing for land" arises. First, China's farmland resources are very limited, so some competition for land among industries is inevitable; in terms of quantity this is a fact, which in turn leads to such an inference. Second, the quality structure of China's farmland resources is relatively complex and markedly regional; the "competing for land" problem that appears in some areas is not necessarily a problem in other areas, and if one generalizes from a partial view, one will naturally think it is the same nationwide. Third, China has always treated food security as a national strategy, holding that "farmland must grow grain," so any "non-grain use of farmland" will inevitably raise alarm, while the actual situation is ignored.

We believe that the so-called "competing for land" problem can also appear in livestock farming, vegetable production and other industries, but this is not entirely a bad thing. For the use of farmland, full consideration should be given to local actual conditions and farmers' wishes, and measures should be adapted to local conditions, so that farmland can be put to full and good use.