How has erosion affected farmland in China?
Sadly, more than 40 percent of China’s soil is degraded from overuse, erosion, and pollution. The government’s 2014 soil survey revealed that 19 percent of China’s farmland was contaminated by metals such as lead, cadmium, and arsenic as well as organic and inorganic chemical pollutants.
What causes soil erosion in China?
The poor will be worst hit, warns the report from China’s bio-environment security research team, which worked on the survey for three years. Almost three-quarters of them already live in erosion-hit areas. The country’s 80,000 reservoirs are also affected, with sand and mud reducing their storage capacity each year.
How does China prevent erosion?
To control this soil erosion, various soil conservation programmes consisting of terracing, construction of check dams, and vegetation restoration, notably afforestation, were implemented by the Chinese government since the 1950s.
Does China have good farmland?
China, a big agricultural country endowed with rich agricultural resources, has a long history of farming and the tradition of intensive cultivation as well as a huge rural population. The Chinese government has always placed high priority on the development of agriculture.
How did China’s Loess Plateau turn into a desert?
The plateau was highly fertile and easy to farm in ancient times, which contributed to the development of early Chinese civilization around the Loess Plateau, but centuries of overgrazing, subsistence farming, deforestation for fuel wood gathering and cultivation of crops on slopes, exacerbated by China’s population …
What caused degradation of Loess Plateau in China?
The Chinese Loess Plateau is considered to be one of the most severe soil and water loss areas in the world [19], and has been largely degraded by deforestation and cultivation, combined with the effects of heavy rainfalls in summer, steep topography and highly erodible loess soil [20].
Where in China is soil erosion most severe?
Abstract. Guizhou province has one of the most severe soil erosion problems in China, with 44% of its total area affected. Within the province, Bijie prefecture is the most severely eroded with 63% of the total area affected.
Why are China’s population statistics unusual for a country with an economy that is still in the process of industrializing?
China has an unusually high total population for any country, regardless of the type of economy. China has an unusually low birth rate for a country with an industrializing economy. This is due in part to China’s history of anti-natalist policies.
Do farmers in China own their land?
Private land ownership is banned in China. Under China’s current Household Responsibility System (HRS), started in the early 1980s, all rural land is owned by rural collectives, which allocate contract rights for parcels of farmland to eligible households.
Is China still an agrarian society?
China’s Rapid Rise: From Backward Agrarian Society to Industrial Powerhouse in Just 35 Years. Along the way, China is igniting new growth across Asia, Latin America, Africa and even the industrial West, thanks to the country’s colossal demand for raw materials, energy, trade and capital flows.
What happened to the forests that originally grew on the Loess Plateau?
Since the Loess Plateau is well suited to agriculture, most natural forest was converted to farmland and pasture centuries ago. Historical records suggest that forest cover on the Loess Plateau declined by a factor of eight during the last three millennia and culminated in 1949.
What agricultural developments helped the Chinese to thrive?
They discovered that flooding the rice fields, called rice paddies, helped to grow rice; they designed tools, such as small shovels called spades, to make planting and harvesting easier; and they used farming methods like crop rotation, cycling different crops so the soil could restore nutrients.
Why is the soil so bad in China?
China’s food security is rooted in its soil. Sadly, more than 40 percent of China’s soil is degraded from overuse, erosion, and pollution. The government’s 2014 soil survey revealed that 19 percent of China’s farmland was contaminated by metals such as lead, cadmium, and arsenic as well as organic and inorganic chemical pollutants.
Why is soil conservation important in Northeast China?
Soil conservation in Northeast China is critical for the well-being of its inhabitants, for natural resource use, economic activities and ecosystem functioning. This study describes the state and causes of soil erosion and presents the preferred measures for conserving soil and water in the black soil region of Northeast China.
How much farmland has been reclaimed in China?
In China, more than 2.47 million hectares of farmland – the size of the state of Vermont – have been reclaimed under the Dynamic Balance of Total Farmland Area policy. Under this policy, when any arable land is converted to a non-farm use, like a factory or housing, new arable land of equal or greater area must be compensated for.
What kind of soil is found in Northeast China?
The black soil region in Northeast China, which is covered with a layer of dark coloured soils, i.e. black soil, chernozem, meadow soil, Baijiang soil, dark brown forest soil and brown soil, is one of the three major black lands in the world.