Agricultural Census Communique No. 5

Communique on General Results of the Manual Tabulation

for the First National Agricultural Census

by the National Agricultural Census Office in China

No. 5

Total Amount of Cultivated Land Area and Its Structure

The census on agricultural land area is one of the most important contents in the First National Agricultural Census of China. Based on the raw data from the national Land Detailed Survey (LDS), this census obtained the information on cultivated land area by the Land Change Survey (LCS). NLDS and LCS was organized and implemented by the state responsible departments with concentration of professional staff members in localities and by use of aerial photos and large-scale topographic charts combined with the open field survey. Through this census, the total amount of agricultural land area and its structure, including the national cultivated land, were clarified. Here is the manual tabulation results from the census on the cultivated land published as follows:

(1) The total amount of cultivated land area

The cultivated land area for planting agricultural crops in China includes new land reclamation, fallow and shifting fallow land, shifting cultivated land both for grass and crops; land mainly for planting crops, scattered with fruit trees, mulberry trees and other trees; river banks and sea beaches cultivated and planted for more than three years. In the cultivated land, there are also included the ditches, canals, paths and field banks with the width of less than 1.0 meter in South China and 2.0 meters in North China. The tabulated results show that on the day of October 31, 1996, the national cultivated land area was 130 million hectares (1.951 billion mu). Looking at the different parts of China, the cultivated land area was less in the eastern and western parts and took 28.4 % respectively. It took 43.2 % of the cultivated land in the middle part (see table 1).

Table 1       Distribution of Cultivated Land in the Eastern, Middle and Western Parts

There were 6.071 million hectares of slope cultivated area with or over 25 degrees in the national cultivated land area. From the view of different parts of China, the slope cultivated land over 25 degrees was mainly in the western part (see table 2). According to some related regulations, the slope cultivated land over 25 degrees must be gradually withdraw from cultivation for forestation and livestock raising as planned, in order to improve the ecological environment.

Table 2 The Slope Cultivated Land over 25 Degrees in the Eastern, Middle and Western Parts

(2) Quality and Operation Structure of the Cultivated Land

From the preliminary census results, the cultivated land with poor quality accounted for certain proportion in China. Only the slope cultivated land with over 25 degrees took 4.7 % of the total cultivated land area. The slope cultivated land with over 25 degrees in Shaanxi, Guizhou, Yunnan and Sichuan Provinces took 25.9 %, 21.8 %, 12.6 % and 11.8 % of the total cultivated land area in these provinces respectively.

Of the cultivated land area, the cultivated land without irrigation facilities was much more than that with irrigation facilities, taken 60.2 % and 39.8 % respectively. In view of the different parts of China, proportion of cultivated land area with irrigation facilities in the eastern part was larger, and the area without irrigation facilities in the middle part was also larger (see table 3).

Table 3       Proportion of Cultivated Land with and without Irrigation Facilities in the Eastern, Middle and Western Parts

If looking at the operational structure, the cultivated land was mainly contracted and operated by farm households. 95.03% of national cultivated land was operated by farm households, the others operated by state, collective and other units.

(3) Strict Preservation of Cultivated Land - a Long-term Task

The work on the LDS, started in 1984, was finished in 1995. The LCS was conducted in 1996 on the changes after the LDS. In the above-mentioned land area surveys, the internationally standard measurement - hectare and nationally standard measurement - shi mu were used and replaced the commonly used “traditional mu” with different standards in the measurement of cultivated land area in different areas. The definition and scope of the cultivated land were also standardized, the area of field banks, paths and ditches with the width of one meter less in the South China and two meters in the North China in the plain areas were included. The census figures on national cultivated land area was 35 million hectares (526 million mu) more than the annual reports from the current statistics, due to the standardization of the measurements and statistical scopes. The actual cultivated and cropping area was not increased and the productivity of cultivated land was not changed.

According to the census results, the per capita possession of the cultivated land area was 0.107 hectare (1.61 mu) in China, as much as less than half of that in the world. The per capita possession of the cultivated land area is less than that of other countries with much population and less land, such as India (0.178 hectare). The census results also showed that the arable land from the backstopping resources usable in China was less, approximately 13600 thousand hectares (around 204 million mu). If using 60 % as reclamation rate, the possible land reclamation is 8260 thousand hectares (122 million mu), and of which 80 % is scattered in the remote areas such as northwest, southwest and northeast parts of China, with poor natural conditions. Therefore, the basic conditions in China do not change, such as large amount of population, less per capita cultivated land and insufficient backstopping resources of cultivated land. “Very much treasuring and rationally using each inch of land and preserving cultivated land practically” is the basic national policy which must be maintained in China for a long period.

Eastern Part: Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Liaoning, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, Shandong, Guangdong, Guangxi and Hainan.

Middle Part: Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, Jilin, Heilongjiang, Anhui, Jiangxi, Henan, Hubei, Hunan.

Western Part: Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan, Tibet, Shaanxi, Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia and Xinjiang.