A compensation system for arable land quality urgently needs to be established
The Measures for the Investigation, Monitoring and Evaluation of Arable Land Quality formulated and issued by the Ministry of Agriculture are, in my view, very timely and very important. There is now an urgent need to further strengthen the construction and management of arable land quality.
A general survey of arable land quality should be organized and carried out as soon as possible. China's first and second national soil surveys, conducted in 1958 and 1979, produced results that were widely applied in agricultural regionalization, comprehensive agricultural development, improvement of low- and medium-yield fields, and scientific fertilization. However, over the past 30-plus years, the intensity of soil use has increased, large amounts of external substances have been introduced, and arable land quality has changed drastically, so the original information can no longer reflect the current state of arable land quality. It is suggested that a third national arable land quality survey be launched as soon as possible. With the aim of comprehensively ascertaining the current state of arable land quality and rationally utilizing existing arable land resources, field investigations, field sampling, laboratory analysis, data analysis, map drawing and other work should be carried out level by level from the bottom up, a national, regional and county-level arable land resource management information system should be established, and specialized maps such as arable land soil nutrient maps, grade distribution maps and improvement and utilization zoning maps should be drawn, so as to form comprehensive and systematic arable land quality information results.
Explore and establish a compensation system for arable land quality protection. At present, the system of balancing the quantity of arable land occupied and replenished is implemented relatively well, and the trend of continuous decline in the quantity of arable land has been initially curbed. However, the balance of arable land quality is far from being achieved. To change this situation, more investment in arable land quality compensation is needed. It is suggested that an arable land quality compensation fund be established as soon as possible, and that, in accordance with the principle of "taking from the soil and using it for the soil," funds be uniformly accrued at a certain proportion from total land transfer revenue and used specifically for arable land quality construction. At the same time, explore arable land quality compensation mechanisms featuring "substituting construction for compensation, promoting construction through awards, combining use with nurturing, and placing equal emphasis on supervision," issue technical subsidy policies that encourage farmers to use and nurture the land and build up soil fertility, and directly grant "land-nurturing subsidies" to farmers according to the area of arable land and changes in arable land quality grades.