Improve the Balance System for Occupied and Reclaimed Cultivated Land to Solve the Hidden Loss of Cultivated Land

    “The fundamental guarantee of national food security lies in protecting cultivated land. China has already implemented and clarified the policy on occupied and reclaimed cultivated land, but cultivated land in some regions is still in a state of ‘hidden loss’.” Sun Guibao, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and chairman of the Ningxia Regional Committee of the China Democratic National Construction Association, suggested that the balance system for occupied and reclaimed cultivated land should be continuously improved, with equal emphasis on both the quantity and quality of occupied and reclaimed land.

Sun Guibao explained that in order to ensure the red line of 1.8 billion mu of cultivated land, China implemented the balance policy for occupied and reclaimed cultivated land in 1997, meaning that however much cultivated land is occupied for construction, an equivalent amount of cultivated land of comparable quantity and quality must be reclaimed. However, because the policy adopted the methods of “occupy first, reclaim later” and “occupy and reclaim simultaneously”, situations such as “occupying without reclaiming” frequently occurred. Therefore, in 2008 China clarified the sequence for occupying and reclaiming cultivated land, following the principle of “reclaim first, occupy later” and designating basic farmland of comparable quantity and quality. Nevertheless, the “balance of occupation and reclamation” was still not “balanced”.

⟦NL> Sun Guibao said that some occupied and reclaimed cultivated land appears balanced in quantity, but there is a considerable gap in quality. The land occupied by urban construction mostly has relatively good geological conditions, while the land reclaimed under “occupy one, reclaim one” mostly has relatively poor soil conditions or consists of abandoned land or other construction land; the quality evaluation system for reclaimed cultivated land is not sound enough, making it difficult to judge the quality of cultivated land; and follow-up supervision is also insufficient.

Sun Guibao suggested that to guarantee national food security, the balance system for occupied and reclaimed cultivated land should be continuously improved, with equal emphasis on quantity and quality. The relevant provisions for designating permanent basic farmland should be implemented, and existing high-quality cultivated land that is easily occupied should be protected. At the same time, the quality evaluation system for reclaimed cultivated land under the balance of occupation and reclamation should be improved, follow-up supervision of reclaimed cultivated land should be strengthened, and key tracking, monitoring and statistics should be carried out on changes in the quantity and quality of cultivated land.