Food security key to growth

Free flow of capital, labor, technology and land can help boost agricultural production and ensure food security in China, says a recent article published in the 21st Century Business Herald. (Excerpts below)

The central agricultural work conference that ended on Dec 24 has outlined food security as a key task for policymakers in China and called for its inclusion in policy documents from next year.

The government should take more steps to boost domestic grains output, as imports have been increasing steadily. Though grains output has risen to more than 602 million metric tons this year, it is still not enough to cater to the actual demand. The widening demand-supply gap has also made China a net grains importer since 2009.

Protecting arable land, modernizing agricultural production and trade and tackling the worsening food safety issues are all crucial for China to ease pressure on its food security situation.

The famines from the 1960s to the 1990s in some less developed and developing countries also serve as reminders for Chinese leaders that food security is the foundation for national security and social stability.

The modernization of agriculture should be based on the marketization of agriculture, something that is not seen in many developing countries. Agriculture is, to some extent, detached from the development of industries and cities, because of a number of institutional restrictions on land, rural population and agricultural market.

To improve the grains self-sufficiency of China, it is important that the government comes up with solutions that address the fundamental long-term issues and delinks the rural and urban areas.