China's first high-standard basic farmland construction standard issued

The Ministry of Land and Resources issued the "Standard for High-Standard Basic Farmland Construction (Trial)"

● According to the national land consolidation plan, by 2015 China will have built 400 million mu of high-standard basic farmland, and by 2020 strive to build 800 million mu of high-standard basic farmland;

● High-standard basic farmland construction includes five projects: land leveling, irrigation and drainage, field roads, farmland protection and ecological environment maintenance;

● Farmers are encouraged to participate in project construction in various forms, and the public is encouraged to participate throughout the whole process;

● After high-standard basic farmland is completed, cultivated land quality assessment should be carried out in accordance with the regulations for the gradation and classification of agricultural land;

China National Radio, Beijing, October 9 (Reporter Feng Huiling) According to the national land consolidation plan, by 2015 China will have built 400 million mu of high-standard basic farmland, and by 2020 strive to build 800 million mu of high-standard basic farmland, laying a solid foundation for national food security.

What is high-standard basic farmland? What standards must high-standard basic farmland meet? How can the public participate in the construction process? Recently, the Ministry of Land and Resources issued the "Standard for High-Standard Basic Farmland Construction (Trial)", which clarifies the goals, tasks, principles, construction content and technical requirements, and construction procedures of high-standard basic farmland construction, standardizing high-standard basic farmland construction work at the national level for the first time.

The "Standard" clearly states that high-standard basic farmland is basic farmland that, within a certain period, has been formed through land consolidation into concentrated contiguous areas with complete supporting facilities, high and stable yields, a good ecology, strong disaster resistance, and suitability for modern agricultural production and management methods. It includes the original basic farmland that has been consolidated and the basic farmland that has been designated after consolidation. High-standard basic farmland construction is land consolidation activity carried out with the goal of building high-standard basic farmland, in accordance with the overall land use plan and land consolidation plan, in key rural land consolidation areas and major projects, basic farmland protection areas, basic farmland reserve areas, and other areas.

The "Standard" requires that in building high-standard basic farmland, the basic national policy of cherishing and rationally utilizing land and earnestly protecting cultivated land must be upheld, and high-standard basic farmland construction must be carried out in a standardized manner; planning guidance, overall arrangement, and large-scale consolidation must be upheld, with priority given to construction within the scope of basic farmland; adapting measures to local conditions must be upheld, differentiated consolidation must be implemented, and comprehensive consolidation measures for fields, water, roads, forests, and villages must be adopted; equal emphasis on quantity, quality, and ecology must be upheld; the principal position of farmers must be upheld, farmers' wishes must be fully respected, the lawful rights and interests of land rights holders must be safeguarded, and farmers must be encouraged to participate in project construction in various forms; with special funds for land consolidation as guidance, related agriculture-related funds must be pooled, investment must be concentrated, and social forces must be guided and standardized to participate.

The main goals of high-standard basic farmland construction include five aspects: first, optimizing the structure and layout of land use to achieve concentrated contiguous areas and give play to economies of scale; second, increasing the effective cultivated land area and raising the proportion of high-standard basic farmland; third, improving the quality of basic farmland, perfecting field infrastructure, and steadily raising comprehensive grain production capacity; fourth, strengthening ecological environment construction and giving play to the comprehensive functions of production, ecology, and landscape; fifth, establishing protection and compensation mechanisms to promote the sustainable use of high-standard basic farmland.

The key areas for high-standard basic farmland construction include basic farmland protection areas and basic farmland reserve areas, key areas and major projects for land consolidation, reclamation, and development determined by the overall land use plan, key areas and major projects for land consolidation determined by the land consolidation plan, and key counties for basic farmland consolidation. Construction is prohibited in areas with terrain slopes greater than 25 degrees, nature reserves, areas returned from farmland to forest, areas returned from farmland to grassland, flood discharge channels, and water surfaces such as rivers, lakes, and reservoirs.

The "Standard" emphasizes that the content of high-standard basic farmland construction mainly includes five projects: land leveling, irrigation and drainage, field roads, farmland protection and ecological environment maintenance, and others. Through high-standard basic farmland construction, each cultivated field plot should be directly adjacent to a canal (pipe), ditch, or road, ensuring that each cultivation area is connected to rural residential areas.

The "Standard" also stipulates specific construction standards for each project, such as the thickness of the cultivated layer should reach more than 30 cm, the effective soil layer thickness should reach more than 60 cm, the irrigation water utilization coefficient should not be lower than 0.6, the land occupation rate of field infrastructure should not be higher than 8%, and the service life of infrastructure should generally be no less than 15 years.

How can the public participate in high-standard basic farmland construction and play a positive role? The "Standard" requires implementing public hearing systems, announcement systems, and mass supervision systems to ensure the standardization and proceduralization of public participation; fully respecting the principal position of local farmers and rural collective economic organizations in public participation, and encouraging the public to participate throughout the whole process; and implementing multi-party supervision to ensure that project construction conforms to design and quality requirements.

The acceptance inspection content of this work includes: construction scope, construction scale, newly added cultivated land area, completion of project tasks, project quality, cultivated land quality, fund use and management, results of ownership adjustment, changes in land use status, and later-stage management and maintenance measures. After high-standard basic farmland is completed, cultivated land quality assessment should be carried out in accordance with the regulations for the gradation and classification of agricultural land.