Areas of Sino-Indian Cooperation in Agriculture: Problems and Prospects

VII
Chinese 11th Five Year plan has vowed to retain 120 million ha by 2010 to grow sufficient food products for over 1.3 billion populace. Land use plan of the central authorities seldom work. The provincial authorities have their own valid reasons. In 2006, for example, the central authorities had fixed to parcel out just 267,000 ha for construction works. However, at the end of the day, the construction works devoured 289,000 ha. Despite all protestations, the cases of illegal land use is on increase. Only last year, the central authorities had detected 131,777 cases. This goes to suggest that the target of maintaining 120 million hectares of cultivable land may turn a distant dream.