BEIJING -- Following are some quotes on grain security from Cai Jiming, a political advisor and director of Tsinghua University's Political Economy Research Center, at the annual session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee on Friday:
-- China's grain security is threatened by a series of factors, including a decline in both acreage and quality of arable land, a shortage in water resources and water conservation projects, unadvanced agricultural machinery equipment, inadequate social services for farmers, a rapid rise in farm production costs, and farmers and local governments' lack of enthusiasm for agricultural development.
-- By the end of 2010, China had 1.826 billion mu (121.73 million hectares) of arable land available, down from 1.945 billion mu in 1998 and edging dangerously close to its "red line", which was set to guarantee that the country's arable land never shrinks to less than 1.8 billion mu.
-- China's agricultural production suffers from a water shortage of 30 billion cubic meters each year, while drought causes a loss of about 20 billion kilograms of grain.
-- Only by boosting China's urbanization level to over 80 percent by mid-21st century can we increase the income of grain farmers to the same level of those working in cities, and make them enthusiastic about grain production and ensure a steady growth of grain output.
