China Aims to Upgrade Farmland the Size of the Republic of Ireland. Here’s why

South China Morning Post

18 December 2020

Ministry unveils plan to upgrade some 6 million hectares as it tries to enhance nation’s food security. China has said it aims to upgrade almost 25 per cent more farmland in 2021 than it did this year, in an attempt to boost its food security while the coronavirus pandemic disrupts supply chains. The agriculture ministry said 6.6 million hectares of farmland would be upgraded to a “high standard” – up from a target of 5.3 million hectares in 2020, and roughly equal to the size of the Republic of Ireland. “The crux of China’s food concern is not the staples but the protein, as the more affluent Chinese population is consuming more meat and the majority of China’s soybean and corn imports are used to feed animals and produce oil,” said Research Fellow Zhang Hongzhou, a food security expert at RSIS in Singapore.

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