Attention should be paid to Food Security in the Development of Urban agglomeration in the Middle reaches of the Yangtze River

On the 8th, the "Yangtze River Forum" jointly organized by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and the People's Government of Hubei Province was held in Wuhan. At the meeting, Li Peilin, vice president of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that in terms of development mode, urban agglomeration in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River should pay special attention to food security and explore a new road for urban agglomeration construction to protect agriculture and cultivated land.

Since the reform and opening up, the Yangtze River Delta, Pearl River Delta and Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban agglomerations have developed rapidly. Li Peilin said that behind the rise of the three major urban agglomerations, grain output and cultivated area are shrinking, the proportion of grain output in the total grain output of the country and the proportion of grain crop sown area in the whole country are declining.

Li Peilin said that the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, as the main traditional grain producing area and the national grain production base, the grain planting area of the four provinces far exceeds the total grain planting area of the Yangtze River Delta, Pearl River Delta and Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei provinces. However, in recent years, grain production in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River has been significantly weak.

"Food is fundamental in China's future urbanization process, and only by ensuring food security can we solve the worries of urbanization construction" Li Peilin said that urban agglomerations in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River determine the land requirements for urbanization by protecting ecological red lines, farmland red lines and basic grain supply, while fully considering the interests of local governments in major grain producing areas, strengthening the top-level design of urbanization paths, and exploring a new road for urban agglomeration construction that protects agriculture and cultivated land through planning guidance.