East China’s Jiangsu province has strengthened the management and utilization of land resources and upheld its red line of absolute food security by continuously introducing and exploring new land management measures and new intensive mechanisms for land and resources conservation so as to provide solid services and guarantees for the construction of a beautiful Jiangsu.
Standing on a high ground in the southwest of Sihong County, you can see rows of photovoltaic power generation panels neatly aligned like a blue ocean.
Satellite images from 2016 show that large tracts of undulating hilly land were idle. The photovoltaic project put into use in 2017 enabled this land to be efficiently used for the first time in so many years.
It used to be one of the six underdeveloped regions in Jiangsu, and the lack of land harvest is one of the important reasons for poverty.
In order to reverse the inefficient and extensive land use, the local government has vigorously promoted underwater fish farming and photovoltaic + projects.
Cheng Wenjin, Mayor of Tianganghu Township, Sihong County, Suqian City
The annual photovoltaic power generation reaches 1.3 billion kwh to bring more than 100 million yuan in tax revenue, 100 million yuan of annual income from agriculture, animal husbandry, and fishery, which has further stimulated tourism consumption by more than 40 million yuan. The project can help carve out a path of high-quality development by saving 520 thousand tons of standard coal and reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 1.28 million tons each year.
Zhou Ting, Director of Natural Resources and Planning Bureau of Sihong County
We have used the smallest land input to improve output efficiency, and taken into account the benign interaction of tourism development, ecological protection, and land resource conservation and intensive use so as to achieve a multiplier benefit on limited land.
During the 13th Five-Year Plan period, Jiangsu renovated 500 thousand mu of low-efficiency arable land while the area of construction land used per unit of GDP fell by 26%, and the average GDP of construction land increased by 35%. The "incremental ratio" of land supply for construction land increased from a ratio of 3:7 to a 6.5:3.5, demonstrating the effectiveness of conservation and intensive land use.
At the same time, Jiangsu has taken the lead in the country in exploring a new model of comprehensive improvement of land improvement + high-standard farmland construction with many pilot cities significantly increasing the area of arable land.
Huang Suming, Director of Jianhu County Land Consolidation Center
The amount of arable land has effectively increased, and the arrangement of ditches and canals has been more reasonable, which is more suitable for mechanization, and the yield of farmland has increased by more than 5%.
During the 13th Five-Year Plan period, Jiangsu renovated about 7 million mu of land and added about 2.29 million mu of arable land, which increased food production and made room for urban construction.
During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, Jiangsu will build a spatial pattern featuring intensive and efficient production, moderate living, and beautiful ecology.
