5. Land Resources and Arable Lands

Yunnan Province is located on the Dian-Zang Plateau. Of the province, 94% is uplands and plateau areas; only 6% is river valleys and basins surrounded by hills and mountains. Per-capita arable land is lower than the national average. With the implementation of the Western China Development Campaign and Strategy on Industrialization and Urbanization, 2003 saw increasing demands for land to be available for construction. To balance the demands of industrialization with the need to maintain a viable amount of arable land has been a great challenge.

Land Resource

The total area of Yunnan Province is 39.4139 million hectares. The per capita land distribution is 0.9 hectares.

Area of Arable Land

The total area of arable land in Yunnan was 6.1873 million hectares, equal to 92.809 million mu. The per capita arable land was 0.141 hectares. In 2003, the area of arable land decreased by 121,700 hectares, of which 5,600 hectares were taken over for construction purpose. There was at the same time an increase of 10,100 hectares of arable land in area. Thus, the net reduction of the area of arable land was 111,600 hectares.

Quality of Arable Land

61 monitored sites of basic farming land, located in twelve monitored areas of seven cities and prefectures, were established. Within the monitored area in suburban Kunming , soil quality was good. Within the suburbs of key small and medium-sized cities and key farming areas, more than 80% of the monitored areas met national soil quality standards. The soil pollution problem within the suburbs of key small and medium cities was not too serious; only a small number of monitored sites and indicators were exceeded but all were less than double the standard. Within the industrial and mineral areas, 99.3% of those sites, which were monitored, exceeded the standard. Of 16 sites in industrial and mineral areas, which were monitored, 93.8% exceeded the standard, and 75.0% monitored indicators exceeded the baseline standard. Within the industrial and mineral areas, which were monitored, the highest peak that exceeded the standard was more than 3.8 times that of the baseline standard. The problem of soil pollution in key industrial and mineral areas was therefore significant.

Measures and Actions

Arable Land Protection

Regulations and provisions for arable land protection were enforced in 2003 based on the principle that the principal way to protect land is by reducing usage. Strict regulations on arable land protection were enforced. The rate of reduction of arable land was carefully controlled, the management of the development of land resources was strengthened, and the area of effective arable land was increased.

Management of Land Resources

The overall principle of ‘developing through conserving and conserving through developing', was strictly adhered to. The overall guidance was also adhered to, which is to say that the ratio of effective use of land resources should be enhanced as both developing new land resources and saving current land resources are important – but that the first priority should be given to saving current resources. Consequently, the policies promoted the conversion of resource use style, which was in the past a crude and rough approach into a more efficient and intensive one. This is essential for sustainable development.