A compensation policy for farmland development and protection is expected to be established, with a focus on improving farmland quality

Next year, the Ministry of Agriculture will vigorously advance the protection and improvement of farmland quality, with soil fertility enhancement, soil improvement, nutrient balance, and quality restoration as the main content, and with completed high-standard farmland project areas, farmland occupied-compensated balance project areas, and areas with prominent farmland quality problems as the implementation priorities, focusing on improving farmland quality.

The Ministry of Agriculture stated that it is necessary to explore and promote the establishment of a compensation policy for farmland development and protection, so as to provide funding guarantees for the development of farmland quality. Centering on achieving the quality and safety of agricultural products and agricultural ecological security, it is necessary to raise the level of field facilities and the basic soil fertility of farmland, improve the farmland quality environment, and ensure that by 2020, 800 million mu of contiguous, drought- and flood-resistant high-standard farmland will be built; the basic soil fertility of farmland will be raised by 0.5 grades, and the soil organic matter content will be increased by 0.5 percentage points; the utilization rate of organic fertilizer resources will be increased by 20 percentage points, straw return to the field will reach 80%, zero growth in the use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers will be achieved, and problems such as farmland acidification, salinization, and pollution will be effectively controlled.