Terrible food crisis in China, other countries are looking to lease land for farming

New delhi date. Sunday, October 25, 2020

The big food crisis is going through these days. According to economists, in the last few years, China has been continuously canceling food agreements with many countries around the world. Most agreements involve large-scale food exchanges. China had signed an agreement for this but now China is canceling the agreement. It is believed that China is going through a major food crisis. While Chinese President Xi Jinping is trying to divert people's attention through tensions on the border.

China's food inflation has risen 13.2% this year. This has reduced most of the food products commonly consumed by the average Chinese person, including grains and even meat. China is relying on imports of food products from around the world. The situation is that China has to import almost all the staple foods. The Department of Statistics has revealed that the prices of the most consumed meat, pork, have risen by 86%.

According to China's customs department, the country increased its grain imports by 22.7% in the first six months of this year. This has resulted in an increase of 74.51 million tonnes in foodgrain imports. Although China has been the largest producer of soybeans for the past several years, it plans to import 40 million tonnes of soybeans this year from its arch-rival America.

Import figures show that China's wheat imports hit a seven-year high in June this year. This led to imports of 910,000 tonnes of wheat during June 2020. This means an increase of 197% on an annual basis. Apart from this, it has imported 880,000 tonnes of maize, 680,000 tonnes of sorghum and 140,000 tonnes of sugar.

The amount of arable land in China is now declining. According to China's Ministry of Natural Resources, its arable land has been declining for four consecutive years. Compared to last year, 60,900 hectares of arable land has been reduced. To bridge the gap between food consumption and food production, China has started buying and leasing fertile land in many Africans, including South America, Djibouti, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Chile, Argentina, Cambodia, Laos, etc. China has spent about US 94 94 billion to buy arable land abroad.

Agricultural production in China has declined so much that the Chinese government could buy only 45 million tonnes of wheat in June-July under the state grain reserve system. Which is 17.2% less than last year. Supervisors believe that the farmer is also stockpiling food due to low yields. The biggest reason is the food crisis. They are surrounded by fears that the government is not selling goods, saying the Chinese government is pressuring citizens to stockpile their own food with the government so that the message goes that there is no food crisis.

Experts also believe that China is keeping an eye on its ally Pakistan. Apart from exploiting Balochistan's natural resources, China's focus is now on Sindh. China has recently signed an agreement on agricultural cooperation with Pakistan for institutional approval on the use of Pakistani land. China has now acquired ownership of many Pakistani lands for the purpose of demonstration projects in the agricultural sector.