China News Service:
As China has a population of nearly 1.4 billion, food security has always been a matter of great public concern. My question is for Mr. Han. What is the current state of food security in China? In addition, will the damage caused by fall armyworms this year affect the grain output?
Han Changfu:
You have raised a crucial question. Ensuring adequate food supply for the Chinese people has always been the top priority for the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the Chinese government. As General Secretary Xi Jinping has stressed on many occasions, to ensure food security remains a perennial issue, and we must always give it great importance.
In regard to food security in China, since 2004, grain production has realized the goal of "15 good harvests in a row", which is a record-breaking achievement. The annual grain output in the past four years has been kept above 1.3 trillion jin (1 jin=0.5 kilogram), which translates to 470 kilograms a year per capita, clearly surpassing the average food security level set by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Therefore, China's food security has been ensured. Such achievement can be attributed to three main factors.
First, we strengthened the role of policy in providing robust support to ensure China's food security.
Second, we have spared no efforts to ensure that China's arable land area does not fall below the red line in terms of both quantity and quality. On the basis of designating permanent basic cropland throughout the country, we established and developed 1.06 billion mu (1 mu=0.67 hectare) of functional zones for grain production and protected areas for the production of major agricultural products. We have also worked to develop 80 million mu of high-grade cropland every year, so that, by 2022, the total area will reach1 billion mu.
Third, we have stepped up development of technical support in the agricultural sector. The average per-unit yield of grain crops has been raised to 374.7 kilograms, five times the level when the People's Republic of China (PRC) was founded
In regard to grain production this year, according to research by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, we are expecting the fifth consecutive good harvest with more than 1.3 trillion jin of grain output, on the condition that there won't be any major natural disasters such as typhoons and frosts in the next two weeks. We are also placing great importance to dealing with the problem of fall armyworms. Although, the pest was found in some 20 provinces this year, only about 2 million mu of farmland were damaged, which is a comparatively small figure. This should be attributed to our timely and effective measures of pest control and prevention.
In conclusion, to ensure national food security is the top priority for the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs. As China's grain consumption is still in a stage of stubborn rise, and is tightly balanced, we need to continuously implement the country's food security strategy, increasing grain production based on farmland management and the application of technology, so as to further improve grain productivity and the overall crop structure.
With these issues in mind, we will work to ensure the long-term stability and high-quality development of China's food security endeavor, so that we always have control over our own food supply. Thank you.
