1、1The Road to Food Self-sufficiencyCHINAS grain production ac-counts for a fourth of theworlds total output,and itsDoulation for a fifth,“ saidChen Xiwen,deputy head of the CentralRural Work Leading Group,when dis-cussing how China succeeds at self-suffi-ciency with respect to basic agriculturalprodu
2、cts.“China is a responsible countrythat is making significant contributionsto global food security.“ Food has always been an issue of toppriority in China.In the last 11 years,the rate of self-sufficiency has hoveredaround 95 percent.In 2010,after goodharvests for seven years in a row,Chinasgrain ou
3、tput reached a record 540 mil-lion tons and grain reserves swelled tonearly 2o0 million tons. According to the Food and Agricultur-al Organization (FAO) and World HealthOrganization (WHO),the “subsistencelevel“ standard refers to 0.36 ton of grainper capita in a year.Since 1983,Chinahas achieved per
4、 capita levels plus or mi-nus 10 percent of 0.38 ton,which meanswith a population of 1.3 billion,the na-tion produces 50o million tons of grain,twice the world grain trade volume. 2Grain Self-sufficiency China has achieved self-sufficiency ingrains,including wheat,rice and maize,and according to Che
5、n,“China is work-ing toward the goal of increasing itsproduction capacity by 50 million tons.The 12th Five-year Plan sets an annualoutput target of 54o million tons.Grainproduction in fact has surpassed this,butdue to climate and other elements outputcannot be considered stable.“ Northeast China is
6、recognized world-wide as a high-quality soybean produc-tion area.However,the country hasreduced acreage devoted to soybean inorder to guarantee grain production.Soybeans are valued as an oil crop andbean dregs as good animal feed.Chinesepeople consume about 25 million tonsof the vegetable oil every
7、year.Customsstatistics show that China imported 54.8million tons of soybeans in 2010,whichis 60 percent of the world total trade vol-ume in soy and 75 percent of the domes-tic demand for this product. “At this degree of dependence onimported soybeans,we can hardly ex-pect to have any control over pr
8、ices forvegetable oil and feed.Whats more,feed prices influence the costs of 3meat,poultry,eggs and milk and those animalby-products will also slip from our grip.China should restructure its agriculturalsystem and increase production capacityof those items in short supply,“ Chen Xi-wen suggested.He
9、also commented thatgiving full play to advantages inherent inboth international and domestic marketsis the inevitable direction globalizationimposes. Protect Farmland To guarantee food security,the Chinesegovernment is intent on sustaining a totalarable land area of no less than 120 mil-lion hectare
10、s by the year 202o.As per themultiple crop index (two or three cropscan be harvested a year in some southernprovinces),the real area can reach 156million hectares.We need lo6 million hectares for planting grain at the currentoutput level of 4,95o kg per hectare.Theremaining 46 million hectares can b
11、e des-ignated for other essential crops,includ-ing oil crops,cotton,sugar plantations,vegetables and crops like tea,fiber plants,herbs,tobacco and fruit orchards. As industrialization and urbanizationreach into the 4countryside,the arablearea in China is gradually decreasing.The first agricultural c
12、ensus in 1995identified 13o million hectares of arablearea.Since that time the figure has de-creased,leaving only 121 million hectaresby the end of 2oo8.To offset this trend,the Chinese government required a “dy-namic balance“ of farmland be restored;if farmland was used for construction,the same ar
13、ea of waste or poor-yield landshould be transformed into arable land. Waste land that is suitable for farm-ing,and mountainous and other ter-ritories suitable for planting forest areestimated at 35 million hectares and 63million hectares respectively.You Hong-bing,director of the General Office of t
14、heCentral Committee of Chinese Peasantsand Workers Democratic Party,alsoconfirms undeveloped grassland standsat 313 million hectares,accounting for32.64 percent of Chinas total land mass. Irrigation and WaterConservancy Projects Irrigation systems are the “blood ves-sels“ of agriculture.However,effi
15、cient ir-rigation serves only 49 percent of Chinasfarmlands.The first document the cen-tral 5government released in 2011 was ad-dressed to accelerating reforms on irriga-tion works.This is the first time the statehas deployed a full-spectrum approachto irrigation reform and development. According to
16、 the document,the gov-ernment takes a leading role in the con-struction of irrigation works,and irriga-tion is also a key area for public financialinput.Ten percent of land transfer feeswill be directed to irrigation and waterconservancy projects.The AgriculturalDevelopment Bank is encouraged to is-
17、sue mid- and long-term loans to irriga-tion works.With these measures andincentives,the government will doublethe annual investment in irrigation fromits 2OlO level in the coming decade. Water-saving technologies also helpreduce demand for water,a scarce re-source in China.“Advanced technologieslike
18、 sprinkling and trickle irrigation cansave a lot of water,“ said Chen Xiwen.“Inwater-deficient areas we can popular-ize dry cultivation methods and developwater-saving agriculture.“ Agricultural Scienceand Technology Agricultural science has increased thequality and quantity 6of Chinese agricultur-a
19、l yields.High-quality seeds are the fruitof agricultural science.Now more than 95percent of staple agricultural products areof fine breeds cultivated through hybrid-izing or genetic modification.Chinesescientists have independently developeda number of new transgenic crop varietiesof great applicati
20、on value. Advanced farming technologies have also increased output.Mulching filmextends the frost-free season,so plantshave a longer growing period and an ex-tended producing region.Greenhouses,commonly seen in northern China,makeit possible to bring on vegetable cropsearlier in cold areas.Plant pro
21、tection,animal epidemic prevention and othertechnologies help reduce producing costand increase food security. “Science and technology are thedriving forces to transform traditionalagriculture to modern agri-business,“says Cheng Ping,deputy director of Ag-ricultural Department of GuangdongProvince,a
22、nd she adds more bluntly,“The quality of farmers,to a large extent,restricts the take-up of agricultural sci-ence and technology.“ Low agriculturalefficiency drives young farmers with ahigher education or skill set to flood intothe cities.Urbanization itself contributesto the continuously dwindling
23、number offarmers.To reverse the 7tide,agriculturemust convert from a labor-intensive to atechnology-intensive mode. In 2004 the government began tointroduce a series of training sessionsfor farmers.In addition,farmers orga-nizations specilizing in particular ag-ricultural operations are encouraged t
24、ohelp increase agricultural efficiency.“Ifsome workers focus on marketing,someon transportation and some on farming,the efficiency will improve,“ Chen Xiwenbelieves,and furthermore,“an organiza-tion is stronger when negotiating withdealers,and also it reduces costs.If everyfarmer bought a tractor,th
25、e machine willbe frequently unused and unproductive.But in an organization,if one farmerbuys a tractor,another one can buy aseeder,and yet another a harvester.“ Food Reserves “Government reserves are very neces-sary for products as critical as food.Re-serves support macro-adjustment mea-sures and pr
26、ice management,“ pointsout Chen Xiwen.Currently China hasreserves of food,cotton,vegetable oil,sugar and pork.When oversupply leadsto falling prices,the government 8stocksup,prodding market prices back to nor-mal.When the output of agricultural andsideline products decreases due to badweather or oth
27、er disasters,the govern-ment sells reserve to keep prices stable. After solving its own subsistenceproblems,China was able to provideforeign aid,for example to African coun-tries in the form of high-quality seeds,ir-rigation technology and equipment,andplanting machinery.The aid has helpedincrease the agricultural output of thesecountries,and Chen Xiwen speculates:“Increased production will help maintainstability in international markets,whichis very beneficial for China. “
