Strong agriculture for China and world: China Daily editorial

For a populous country such as China, the importance of food security can never be overemphasized, and the country's ability to meet its people's needs for food mainly by means of its own agricultural production is a great contribution to global food security and world stability.

It is no exaggeration to say that having the capability to feed more than 1.4 billion people is enough to vindicate the governance of the Communist Party of China since the founding of the People's Republic of China.

The PRC and the CPC have reason to be proud of what the country and its people have achieved in the development of its agriculture over the past seven decades, as detailed in a white paper published on Monday.

China's agriculture has maintained a bumper harvest for 15 consecutive years since 2004, and its total grain output has been more than 650 million tons for five years. For the mainstay grains such as wheat, rice and corn, the country's agricultural production can meet more than 95 percent of its own needs. And its per capita grain supply is 470 kilograms, much higher than the global average.

It is the importance the Chinese government has attached to the development of irrigation systems and the quality of arable land in the past seven decades that has laid the foundation for the country's agricultural achievements, as well as the funds invested in the development of agricultural science in the recent decades.

In addition, a lot attention has been paid to the building of a system for grain reserves for unforeseen needs, which has prepared the country against any natural disaster that may greatly reduce grain output.

Still China cannot afford to slacken its efforts in promoting the development of its agriculture as its population still increases by 5 million people a year. And it still has to make greater efforts to develop green agriculture by reducing the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides while maintaining higher yields per hectare.

At the same time, more needs to be done to encourage people not to waste food. It is estimated that the amount of food Chinese people waste each year would be enough to feed 200 million people for a year. China must do a great job in maintaining its strong and sustainable agriculture and improving food awareness not just for its own food security, but also for that of the world.