Focus Interview | Guarding Good Farmland and Protecting "Granary" Villages | Rectification | Good Farmland

June 25th is the 33rd National Land Day. The theme of this year's Land Day is "Conserve and Intensive Land Use, Strictly Adhere to the Red Line of Cultivated Land". Food security is the foundation of the country's development, and food production is rooted in arable land.1.8 billion mu of arable land must truly deserve its name. Farmland is farmland, and it must be good farmland.But I still have to protect my own responsibility in the south. Let's take a look at the protection of arable land in Jiangsu and Anhui.

In Wangxiu Village, Huangjing Town, Taicang City, Jiangsu Province, the reporter saw that some old factories were being demolished. This is an industrial park covering an area of over 60 acres, with over 30 small businesses renting land from the village collective. According to the special rectification plan for the entire land and space of Taicang City, these factories will be gradually demolished this year, and this land will be reclaimed as arable land.

Hou Zhenya is the head of a small chemical fiber factory in the local area. More than a decade ago, Hou Zhenya built a factory in Yongle Village, Huangjing Town, covering an area of over six acres.

Hou Zhenya, the person in charge of Suzhou Zhenyue Chemical Fiber Co., Ltd.: At that time, it was advocated for farmers to become wealthy, to establish family style workshops, and to update small businesses and machines step by step.

Like here, many villages in Taicang City have many small factories, most of which have developed from small family workshops in the early years. The production methods are outdated, and the factories are old and have high safety hazards. They are scattered and occupy land in a disorderly manner, causing great waste of land use.

In recent years, with China's increasing emphasis on the protection of arable land, a series of policies and measures have been introduced from the central government to various regions, requiring strict adherence to the red line of arable land, strict control of urban construction land increment, rational activation of stock, and improvement of the efficiency of land resource allocation.

In 2020, Taicang City also launched a special land and space renovation project, focusing on rectifying inefficient and highly polluting enterprises and scattered idle construction land in villages according to the plan. Qualified construction land will be reclaimed into arable land.

Hou Zhenya's chemical fiber factory has also been included in the local list of demolition and reclamation enterprises, and according to the plan, the factory will be demolished this year. The plots in the local demolition and reclamation plan must undergo strict argumentation and approval. The local relevant departments organized a large number of professionals to conduct research on the land parcel and related enterprises, confirm the necessity of demolition, the actual effect and feasibility of land reclamation.

However, the demolition and reclamation work still faces many difficulties. There are over 1000 small factories in Huangjing Town, where Hou Zhenya is located, such as chemical fibers, small hardware, and furniture processing. Many people have become accustomed to this family business model and are unwilling to move out. To ensure the smooth and smooth progress of the demolition and reclamation work, the local government strictly follows the principles of voluntary demolition and voluntary signing, and has also introduced strict work processes and resettlement compensation plans to safeguard the interests of villagers and business owners.

Villager Mao Zhenqi's furniture factory has been included in the first batch of demolition and reclamation enterprises in 2021. According to local policies, a third-party evaluation agency will evaluate his company's assets, including buildings, equipment, etc., and provide reasonable compensation. In addition, there will be corresponding compensation for operational losses such as enterprise shutdown and personnel placement.

Mao Zhenqi's compensation contract went smoothly, and he thought the demolition could proceed smoothly, but he didn't expect another setback. Originally, a few years ago, Mao Zhenqi rented out some of the idle factory buildings, and now several tenants also want to receive some compensation. But the tenant was already in arrears with the rent, so the two sides argued and the demolition work was put on hold. Local staff visited multiple times to inquire about the situation and mediate.

With the mediation of the staff, they negotiated and allocated compensation, and the demolition and reclamation work was carried out smoothly. In order to ensure a smooth transition and healthy development of the enterprise, the government also took the lead in helping Mao Zhenqi find new factories, and now his business is on the right track.

The land vacated after the demolition of these old factories will be leveled, loosened, and restored to arable land, and then inspected by professional departments. After Mao Zhenqi's original factory site was restored to arable land, it was operated by the village's agricultural cooperative and planted with wheat and vegetables. Now, with the completion of large-scale re cultivation, the environment here has also greatly improved.

For the dismantled enterprises, the local government also provides targeted guidance to help some powerful enterprises transfer to modern industrial parks, build high standard production lines, and achieve the transformation and upgrading of enterprises.

Since 2020, Taicang City has achieved nearly 10000 acres of newly added farmland through the demolition and reclamation of village construction land, effectively protecting and expanding farmland.

Miao Yonghua, Deputy Director of the Natural Resources and Planning Bureau of Taicang City, Jiangsu Province: Through the construction of high standard farmland, we have achieved centralized connection with surrounding farmland, realizing a pattern of transforming from small fields to large fields, and ultimately achieving a net increase in arable land throughout the city.

Like Taicang City, in recent years, many places in China have been sorting out and revitalizing land stocks, protecting and expanding arable land based on actual conditions. Since 2018, the country has digested over 22 million acres of idle land. The 2022 National Land Change Survey shows that the net increase in arable land area in China compared to the end of 2021 is about 1.3 million mu, providing strong support for China's food security.

To protect and expand arable land, on the one hand, it is necessary to activate the land stock and expand the arable land area, and on the other hand, to improve the quality of existing arable land and achieve efficient cultivation in a more modern way. Many parts of the country are also constantly exploring this.

These days, Wang Jiagang, a grain grower in Macheng Town, Bengbu City, Anhui Province, has finished harvesting wheat and is busy planting the next season of rice. Wang Jiajin has transferred over 700 acres of land locally, planting one season of rice and one season of wheat, with an annual income of over 400000 yuan. But just a few years ago, not to mention the transfer of this land, many villagers were unwilling to plant it themselves, and a lot of land was abandoned. Villager Li Naiyao has a deep understanding of this.

Li Naiyao, a villager from Zhu Village, Macheng Town, Bengbu City, Anhui Province: My land used to be abandoned and cannot be transferred. It is not cost-effective to grow it ourselves, and even large grain growers are unwilling to take it.

Bengbu City is located in the northeast of Anhui Province, with the Huai River passing through the city and abundant water resources, making it suitable for agricultural cultivation. However, due to uneven terrain and difficulty in construction, the local agricultural water conservancy facilities have not been perfect enough, and irrigation cannot keep up. Over 5 million mu of arable land in the city can only be planted with economically inefficient dryland crops. Adjacent to the Huai River, but with no water available. Li Naiyao's family's over 8 acres of land used to only be able to grow dryland crops such as wheat and soybeans, which did not require a lot of irrigation. The yield was low and the price could not be sold. After a busy year, the income was often not enough to cover the cost.

In recent years, with the strong promotion of high standard farmland construction by the country, Bengbu City has also begun to implement land improvement projects, including land improvement, soil improvement, construction and improvement of water conservancy facilities. The original low-lying dry land and low yield dry land have been transformed into high-yield paddy fields that can be irrigated and drained with drought.

Nowadays, after upgrading and renovating, more than 3000 acres of arable land in Zhu Village, Macheng Town have been transformed into neat and large-scale grid fields. The newly built irrigation channels, combined with pumping stations at various nodes, can not only introduce surrounding water systems into farmland irrigation, but also timely discharge excess incoming water, ensuring crop yields during drought and flood. The most direct change brought about by the guaranteed harvest is the increase in land rent. Many abandoned farmland in the past has become a precious commodity.

Now, when villagers transfer their land, they can not only receive a considerable transfer fee, but also work on farms or go out to work, and have another income. The income of local villagers has greatly increased. At the same time, due to the fact that the renovated farmland is more suitable for large-scale mechanical operations, it has also attracted enterprises with modern equipment and management concepts to contract, which further increases grain production and improves grain quality.

Since 2020, Bengbu City has achieved an additional 25000 mu of irrigation area and 38000 mu of rice planting area through the construction of high standard farmland and other projects. Throughout the country, the construction of high standard farmland has also achieved significant results. By the end of 2022, 1 billion mu of high standard farmland has been built nationwide, ensuring a stable grain production capacity of over 1 trillion catties.

The protection of arable land in Jiangsu and Anhui is a microcosm of the national arable land protection work. In recent years, China has adhered to the implementation of the strictest land conservation system and the strictest farmland protection system, resolutely curbing the "non agriculturalization" of farmland and preventing the "non grainification" of farmland, so as to preliminarily curb the trend of sustained and rapid reduction of farmland, and the total amount of farmland has not decreased or increased for two consecutive years.

Chen Xiuxin, Director of the Comprehensive Department of the Farmland Protection Supervision Department of the Ministry of Natural Resources: Ensuring national food security and strictly guarding the red line of farmland are fundamental. The next step is to stabilize the total amount and implement the protection tasks of cultivated land and permanent basic farmland step by step through the formulation of land spatial plans at all levels of provinces, cities, and counties, clarifying protection responsibilities; The second is to optimize the layout, and through economic reward and punishment measures, urge southern provinces to restore a part of the high-quality farmland that has been lost in the past in a planned, rhythmic, classified, and regional manner; The third is to strengthen responsibility. Party committees, governments, and relevant departments at all levels will jointly sign responsibility agreements for farmland protection and conduct strict assessments.

The basic national condition of China is that there are more people and less land, and the task of protecting arable land is arduous. The results of the third national land survey show that at the end of 2019, the total arable land area in China was 1.918 billion mu, with a per capita arable land area of only 1.36 mu, which is less than 40% of the world average. At the same time, the spatial distribution of arable land resources is uneven, with over half of the arable land still relying on natural harvesting.The red line includes both quantity and quality. To protect arable land, we need to take hard measures such as "growing teeth" to stabilize the quantity and control the use, while also improving the quality, making every inch of arable land a fertile land for harvest, and comprehensively consolidating the foundation of food security.

Editor | Li Jingjiang Kai

Camera | Zhang Min, Zhou Shaojun

Editing | Zheng Yu, Xing Yongyue, Zhang Wenqing

Planning | Cui Xinyu