The Ministry of Agriculture released its 2006-2020 grain-production plan revealing agricultural development policies, which are designed to safeguard food security for the world's largest population.

 

The plan, which was released over the weekend, comes at time when grain prices have risen nationwide and when the government has stabilized the price increases by pouring State reserves into the market.

 

This action shows the importance the central government has always attached to agricultural development.

 

In spite of three consecutive years of bumper harvests, Agriculture Vice-Minister Zhang Baowen admitted grain production could only meet 97 percent of the nation's need and this is a concern.

 

Inadequate arable land and the lack of water resources are major challenges for China.

 

In addition, the agricultural production is unbalanced in different parts of the country. On average, a rural household owns only less than 0.5 hectares of farmland, which makes it impossible to develop mechanized large-scale grain production. Such a small production scale will always limit farmers' income.

 

This makes it imperative for agricultural authorities to take into consideration how grain production needs to be developed in a sustainable manner.

 

Farmers must be able to earn more income from sideline productions.

 

Agricultural development must be pushed forward despite these difficulties. The country's population will continue to increase in the coming decades and so will grain consumption. A well-designed plan is vital.

 

The government's plan has proposed concrete measures to keep the basic arable land from being developed for commercial purposes. It increases grain output and upgrades grain quality.

 

Some of the country's major grain-production provinces in coastal regions do not produce as much grain as they used to and some have to even import grain from other regions.

 

It is of the utmost importance that these coastal provinces be strictly prohibited to occupy the remaining cultivated land.

 

For those grain-production regions in the north and northeast, water irrigation systems will be developed and drought-proof farming systems will be put in place.

 

The agriculture plan has mapped out different policies for different grain production areas.

 

For instance, the northern region that has been plagued by a lack of water and weak ecology for years is designated as a reserved grain production area.

 

This demonstrates the policy makers' long-term view and should be commended.

 

(China Daily December 18, 2006)