China's polluted farmlands carry the seeds of change
Gao Yu says the severity of China's agricultural pollution and food safety problems offer an opportunity for change. For more sustainable and healthier harvests, farmers need secure land rights
From poisonous rice to melamine-infused milk, reports of tainted food are a regular occurrence in China. Just last month, farmers in Shandong province were found to be using an illegal and highly toxic pesticide to grow ginger. And a food safety inspection earlier this year showed that almost half of the rice for sale in Guangzhou contained excessive cadmium, a hazardous metal.
Not surprisingly, the farmland that produces this food is equally contaminated.
According to a 2011 report by the Ministry of Environmental Protection, 21.5 per cent of soil samples from 364 rural villages failed to meet national soil quality standards. There is widespread belief that the real extent of the pollution may be far worse. Earlier this year, when a Beijing lawyer asked the ministry to release its soil pollution data, the ministry refused, stating that the data is a state secret.
Last week, the Ministry of Land and Resources announced that it is compiling a nationwide map of soil contamination. But the ministry did not reveal if the findings would be made public.
These incidents have helped to focus public attention on the alarming truth about agricultural pollution and food safety in China.
How China's farmers became the world's largest consumers of pesticides and chemical fertilisers is a story that has its roots in China's property rights system.