In China current food imports account for only about 2% of the total domestic consumption. It is the country's consistent policy to be self- sufficient in food. Furthermore, the three major fundamental policies of family planning, environmental protection, and farmland protection are closely related to one another. Substantial farmland area in China has been occupied for the purpose of industrial constructions, etc. every year, but it is recouped by cultivating reserve farmland resources. For example, an average of 9.10 million Mu of existing farmland was lost each year from 1990 to 1993, whereas 7.02 million Mu of reserve farmland was newly cultivated annually. The result was only 2.08 million Mu of actual loss. According to statistics, China has 500 million (Mu) of wasteland which can be cultivated, and the Government is planning to cultivate an average of 5 million Mu each year from 1990 through 2000. Implementation of this cultivation plan is expected to add 200 Mu of new farmland to the current farmland area in the 40 years between 1990 and 2030. So, the "shortage of farmland" predicted by Mr. Brown will not occur as Mr. Brown predicted.
Agricultural Development Policy Based on Reinforcing Agricultural Scientific Technology, Increasing Agricultural Investments, and Specification of Total Development Districts
The trends in the 21st century is likely to be that the Chinese people's food consumption standard will improve, along with economic development and higher income levels, as direct food consumption per capita decreases while the proportions of animal-based foods, fruits, vegetables, vegetable oils, etc. increases remarkably, instead. In addition, progress in agricultural scientific technology is considered likely to greatly contribute to the increase in food production. While the substantial increase of food production in the former half of the 1980s was brought about by the collapse of the collective agricultural system and the subsequent establishment of individual management, further improvement of food production was achieved by technological progress. For example, hybrid rice, which China developed by itself, was planted in nearly 50% of paddy fields, attaining about 15 to 20% more productivity.
