Overall quality of China's arable land is low, with medium- and low-grade arable land accounting for 70 percent
A recent announcement from China's Ministry of Land and Resources states that, according to the ministry's survey and assessment data on the quality grades and distribution of arable land nationwide, the average quality grade of China's arable land is generally low, with medium- and low-grade arable land accounting for 70.6% of the assessed arable land area.
The Ministry of Land and Resources recently published the "Announcement on the Release of the Main Data Results of the National Arable Land Quality Grade Survey and Assessment." This is the second comprehensive determination of the quality grades and distribution of arable land nationwide since the Ministry of Land and Resources completed the first comprehensive survey and assessment of national arable land quality grades in 2009.
The announcement shows that the total area of this national arable land quality grade survey and assessment was about 135 million hectares (2.026 billion mu), of which high-quality land covered only 3.852 million hectares (57.79 million mu), accounting for 2.9% of the total assessed arable land area nationwide; high-grade land covered 35.862 million hectares (about 538 million mu), accounting for 26.5% of the total assessed arable land area nationwide; medium-grade land covered 71.493 million hectares (1.072 billion mu), accounting for 52.9% of the total assessed arable land area nationwide; and low-grade land covered 23.865 million hectares (358 million mu), accounting for 17.7% of the total assessed arable land area nationwide.
In terms of national distribution, high-quality land is mainly distributed in 3 provinces, Hubei, Guangdong and Hunan, accounting for 90.6% of the total high-quality land area nationwide; high-grade land is mainly distributed in 12 provinces (regions) including Henan, Jiangsu, Shandong, Hubei, Anhui and Jiangxi, accounting for 89.4% of the total high-grade land area nationwide; medium-grade land is mainly distributed in 10 provinces (regions) including Heilongjiang, Jilin, Yunnan, Liaoning and Sichuan, accounting for 73.9% of the total medium-grade land area nationwide; low-grade land is mainly distributed in 7 provinces (regions) including Inner Mongolia, Gansu and Heilongjiang, accounting for 89.3% of the total low-grade land area nationwide.
In terms of regional distribution, the average quality grade of arable land in the eastern region and the central region is relatively high; the average quality grade of arable land in the northeastern region and the western region is relatively low.
According to the relevant person in charge of the Land Use Management Department of the Ministry of Land and Resources, the arable land quality grade survey and assessment mainly evaluates arable land quality grades comprehensively from aspects such as climatic conditions, terrain conditions, soil conditions, farmland infrastructure conditions and land use levels, reflecting the level of arable land production capacity, but it did not take pollution factors into consideration.
The person in charge pointed out that the results of soil pollution surveys can be combined to better serve the rational and sustainable use of land resources. According to previous official disclosures, China currently has roughly 50 million mu of moderately and severely polluted arable land that cannot be cultivated, and these polluted arable lands mostly overlap with major grain-producing areas such as the Yangtze River Delta and the eastern and central regions, including some land with relatively high arable land quality.