Chinese land resources and their agricultural use

Author: Tang Huajun, edited by (Belgium) Van Loo
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-01-01
Features: Agriculture is the foundation of China's economic development. Over the past 50 years, especially through reform and development, China has achieved tremendous success in agriculture. However, under the new circumstances of an increasingly market economy and entry into the WTO, China's agricultural and rural economic development faces new challenges such as population growth, resource degradation, and environmental pollution. Particularly in recent decades, non-agricultural land occupation and land degradation have led to a decline in land productivity, affecting China's food security. This issue is increasingly drawing the attention of the Chinese government and relevant experts globally. Against this backdrop, in 2000, the Flemish Ministry of Education in Belgium funded the Sino-Belgian cooperation project "China Distance Education in Agriculture." The main objectives of this cooperation project are: 1. Enhancing the quality of agricultural teaching staff in fields such as agriculture, soil, and environmental science; 2. Promoting the dissemination of agricultural technology in rural areas; 3. Playing a significant role in China's agricultural education and training; 4. Driving the reform and development of China's agricultural teaching methods. This book is a major outcome of the "China Distance Education in Agriculture" project, a result of close collaboration between Ghent University in Belgium, the University of Ghent-Hasselt in Belgium, the Institute of Natural Resource and Agricultural Zoning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanchong Vocational and Technical College in Sichuan, and Yangling Vocational and Technical College in Shaanxi.