Cultivated land and food supply in China

Abstract

The study utilizes official statistics at the national and provincial level to examine changes in cultivated land in China during the past two decades. The environmental impact of the changes and the consequent effect on China's short- and long-term food supply are tackled. The study finds that while the decline in cultivated land was a trend evident at the national level, a provincial investigation reveals that this was mainly the result of a drastic reduction of fertile land in the southeast areas. The conversion of cultivated land to other types of agricultural uses and the encroachment of various constructions were the major causes of the loss there. Cultivated land increased in some northwest and frontier provinces, which partially offset the loss in the southeast. Reclamation was the primary source of the increase. This gain, however, has been made at the expense of environment, indicated by a substantial abandonment of damaged land in the major reclaiming provinces. The study argues that under the current land management system, the enforcement of the strategy of maintaining a dynamic balance of cultivated land can only intensify the existing regional trend. To this end, the strategy could potentially do more harm than good to China's long-term food security.