Black Soil Protection Made into Law

A law on the protection of chernozem soil, or black soil, came into effect on August 1. There are only four areas of black soil worldwide, accounting for less than seven percent of the global landmass. The lot in China totals 1.09 million square meters and is located in the northeastern provinces of Heilongjiang, Jilin, and Liaoning as well as Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. It produces about a quarter of the country’s total grain output, making it crucial to China’s food supply.

In recent decades, degradation, poaching, and illegal trading have posed grave threats to this fertile soil. The new law aims to intensify the conservation, rehabilitation, and treatment of black soil, all of which have great significance to China’s food security and biosecurity. It will boost China’s efforts to increase scientific and technological support for black soil protection and to establish a conservation system in which the government takes the lead, farmers are the main players, and different sectors of the society are also involved.