China eyes sustainable, strong agriculture(2)

However, this commendable feat now faces grave challenges.

Experts point out that behind the surging crop yields is an excessive reliance on pesticides and chemical fertilizers. National chemical fertilizer use amounts to around a third of the world's total consumption. Chinese farmers apply 70 percent more chemicals to crops than the world average.

The practice, while boosting output, has taken its toll on the land and consequences are beginning to take shape. Land fertility falls, with around 40 percent of workable land degenerating, data from the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) showed.

Unsustainable practices need to come to an end, says Zhu Lizhi, a research fellow with the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences.

"Quantity should not be the only measure and the comprehensive competitiveness should prevail," he said.

To address the problem, the new plan vows to promote green cultivation, create "high-standard arable land" with better facilities, protect arable land, build irrigation works and promote water conservation.

MOC official Tang Ke said the country will encourage targeted fertilization, step up integration of water and fertilizer and promote green disease and pest control to ensure the chemical fertilizer and pesticide consumption stop increasing by 2020.

ECONOMIC FOUNDATION

China's agricultural origins date back to 7,000 BC, when the country's occupants first began planting rice. Even ancient emperors knew the significance of the sector, prioritizing labor in the fields at the cost of slower business growth.

It is still dubbed as the country's economic foundation, even though agriculture has been dwarfed by an enormous manufacturing industry. Unfortunately, many farmers still stick to traditional methods, unable to access or afford modernization.

Reforms are badly needed to break the restriction of outdated practices and will bring vitality to the sector, said Ye Xingqing, head of the agricultural economy department of the Development Research Center under the State Council.

One measure written into the recently published outline suggested the government should guide the transfer of land use contracts and encourage rural households to expand their operation to build big family farms.

Currently, Chinese farmers hold land contracts for their own patch of land, slowing the mechanization process.

Other reforms include more agricultural restructuring, strengthening the role of science and technology and more efficient distribution.