Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday stressed efforts to effectively strengthen farmland protection and fully improve farmland quality to expand agricultural production space.
Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks while presiding over a meeting of the Central Commission for Financial and Economic Affairs, which he heads.
Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the CPC Central Committee has implemented a series of measures to ensure the area of farmland remains above the red line of 1.8 billion mu (about 120 million hectares) and prevent the continuing downward trend in the total amount of farmland, the meeting said.
Noting that the task of protecting farmland is even more arduous in the new era, the meeting urged accelerated efforts to strengthen the protection of arable land.
The meeting called for fully improving the quality of farmland and turning farmland, especially permanent basic farmland, into fertile land suitable for farming and ensuring high and stable yields despite drought or excessive rain.
Efforts should be made to strengthen scientific and technological research and development, increase investment in production, and explore effective development models to break through the natural constraints created by the scarcity of conventional farmland in China, according to the meeting.
Rectification and replanting of illegally occupied farmland should be carried out realistically, respecting the law, and protecting the interests of farmers, the meeting added.
The meeting called for formulating a plan for the comprehensive utilization of saline-alkali land. Efforts should also be made to accelerate the selection and breeding of saline-alkali tolerant crop varieties and to popularize effective saline-alkali land treatment methods, the meeting said.
A guideline on promoting the comprehensive utilization of saline-alkali land was reviewed and approved.
(Cover: An aerial view of Yonghong Village in east China's Jiangxi Province, July 11, 2023. /CFP)