Xinyuan LU，Zhongxiang YU

College of Economics and Management/Institute of Land and Resources，Anhui Agricultural University，Hefei230036，China

1 Introduction

Cherishing and rationally using land and effectively protecting farmland is a long-term basic national policy that we have to adhere to.Land is the basis of social and material production and humans depend on it to survive.It is also a non-renewable resource.Although China has9.6 million square kilometers of land area，there is not much farmland.With a mushrooming population，China's farmland is ceaselessly dwindling，and the area of farmland per capita is even small，having a direct impact on per capita share of grain.In recent years，there is an increasingly prominent contradiction among farmland，population and food，and since land resources are the most important non-renewable natural resources，it is particularly important to seek a equilibrium point of farmland，population，resources and environment to achieve sustainable development.The basic farmland is the essence of farmland，so strengthening the basic farmland protection plays an important role in promoting stable development of agriculture and ensure national food security.

2 Current farm land use in Huainan City

2.1 Current land useHuainan is a prefecture-level city in central Anhui Province，People's Republic of China.It borders the provincial capital of Hefei to the south，Lu'an to the southwest，Fuyang to thewest，Bozhou to the northwest，Bengbu to the northeast and Chuzhou to the east.The prefecture-level city of Huainan administers six county-level divisions，including five districts and one county（Tianjia'an District，Panji District，Xiejiaji District，Datong District，Bagongshan District，Fengtai County）.It also has a comprehensive experimental zone of social development（MaojiExperimental Zone），a development zone（Economic and Technological Development Zone）and a technology and culture zone being built（Shannan District）.According to the land change survey data in Huainan City（Table 1），the city's total area of land was258395.46 ha in 2014，including 179628.77 ha of agricultural land，52664.04 ha of construction land and 26102.64 ha of unused land.As can seen from Fig.1，the proportion of agricultural land is high in Panji District and Fengtai County，and the proportion is highest in Fengtai（72.80%）；the proportion of construction land is high in Tianjia'an District and Bagongshan District，and the proportion is highest in Bagongshan（36.57%）and lowest in Fengtai（17.43%）；the proportion of unused land is highest in Xiejiaji District（18.19%）and lowest in Tianjia'an District（2.82%）.

Table 1 The land use statistics in Huainan City in 2014 Unit：ha

2.2 Land use structure changesFrom the change in the proportion of various types of land in Huainan City in the past six years（Table 2 and Fig.2），there was a slight fluctuation in the proportion of agricultural land from 2009，but overall it showed a steady downward trend；the proportion of construction land showed a slow upward trend from 2009，rising from 18.31%in 2009 to 20.38%in 2014；the proportion of unused land showed a slow upward trend from 10.77%in 2009 to 10.11%in 2014.

2.3 Current land use characteristics（i）The agricultural land has a large share，and the rate of land use and reclamation is high.In 2014，the city's land utilization rate was up to 89.90%，the agricultural land occupied 69.52%of the city's total land area，and land reclamation rate was55.83%，higher than the provincial average.（ii）The construction land area increases year by year，and the proportion of rural residential land is large.The area of construction land increased from 47304.11 ha in 2009 to 52664.04 ha in 2014，with an average annual increase of1071.99 ha.In 2014，the city's rural residential land area was 22542.51 ha，accounting for 43.39%of the city's construction land area，and the consolidation potential of rural residential land was high.（iii）The mining subsidence area is constantly increased and widely distributed.In 2013，the mining subsidence area was 22000 ha in Huainan City，accounting for8.51%of the total land area.Compared with the mining subsidence area in 2005（9858.00 ha），it greatly increased，with an average annual increase of 1517.75 ha.It is mainly distributed in Bagongshan，Xiejiaji，Panji and Fengtai.（iv）The farmland reserve resources are short.In 2014，the city's unused land area was26102.64 ha，accounting for 10.1%of the total area，and waters accounted for95%of unused land.There are less farmland reserve resources that can be exploited.

Table 2 The changes in the area and proportion of various types of land in Huainan City during 2009-2014 Unit：ha

2.4 Current farm land use（i）The urban construction is accelerated and the conflict between construction land supply and demand is increasingly prominent.Currently，Huainan City is in an important transition period to achieve leapfrog development，and the urban construction has an increasing demand for land，so the farmland occupation is inevitable.In the long run，the farmland protection will face increasing difficulties and pressures.（ii）There are less land reserve resources that can be exploited and they are unevenly distributed.（iii）Due to the coal resourcebased city characteristics of Huainan，the land subsidence caused by coal mining and ecological problems are also inevitable，making the quality of farmland decrease.（iv）The farmland use is relatively extensive and irrational and the waste is serious.

3 The current situation and problem s concerning basic farm land protection in Huainan City

3.1 Current situationTo protect farmland and ensure the sustainable development of agricultural production，Huainan City developedMeasures for Basic Farmland Protection in Huainan Cityin 1991，to divide the basic farmland into three levels and make provisions on the payment of basic farmland protection funds for three levels of protection zones.In recent years，the basic farmland protection work in Huainan City has achieved some success.The farmland quality level results about five districts and one county in Huainan City pass the acceptance check，and 2.209 millionmu of farmland in Huainan City has＂quality grade identity＂.Itworks out the maps and statistical forms related to basic farmland protection，strengthens the quantity，quality grade and responsibility information，and establishes the basic farmland database.The permanentbasic farmland designation in Huainan City is now fully completed.It has developedPermanent Basic Farmland Demarcation Results Reportand related maps and databases，initially forming a set of permanent basic farmland delineation systems in line with the actual situation of Huainan City.It has also developed a series of norms such asPlan for the Implementation of Permanent Basic Farmland Designation in Huainan City，Liability Statement on Permanent Basic Farmland Protection and Municipal Early Inspection Program for Permanent Basic Farmland Designation Results，which are of strong guiding significance.

3.2 Problems

3.2.1 The lack of flexibility in the planning and management for farmland protection.Currently，the land administration departments often use overall land use planning and special plan for basic farmland protection to set the basic farmland protection zone，but there are some unexpected problems in the formulation of overall land use planning.Once these problems actually occur，the existing basic farmland protection system becomes insufficient.Due to the destruction of farmland caused by natural disasters，the farmland is obviously insufficient in the basic farmland protection area，and it can not be restored in the short term and can not be supplemented in the long term.In addition，part of the high-quality farmland stemming from the development of land reserve resources can not be effectively protected，because it is not included in the basic farmland protection zone.Conspicuously，we can not timely adjust the basic farmland layout if there is no flexible planning and management measures for basic farmland protection.

3.2.2 Unsound management mechanism for basic farmland protection.There are still many flaws in the current basic farmland protection mechanism.Although the country attaches great importance to the protection of basic farmland，there is an inevitable need to occupy basic farmland in some construction projects.The frequent land use and cumbersome approval procedures increase the workload and difficulties in the implementation.A series of problems lead to the illegal occupation of basic farmland，and even make some industry projects with good prospects abandoned.In addition，there is the mistaken idea of emphasizing quantity but ignoring quality in the basic farmland protection in Huainan City.According to statistics，the rate of basic farmland protection in Huainan City is higher than the minimum rate of basic farmland protection，but there are still some drawbacks in the rate of basic farmland protection.Currently，it lacks the survey and analysis of surrounding environment of basic farmland protection zones in Huainan City，and some contaminated farmland with serious soil erosion in the coal mining subsidence area is classified within the protected area，which is not conducive to the effective management of basic farmland.

3.2.3 Imperfect laws and regulations concerning basic farmland protection.So far，China has not yet enacted a special law for the basic farmland protection.In the long run，with the continuous changes in economic and social development and ecological environment，the basic farmland protection also poses higher requirements and covers a wide range，and rigid rules and regulations have been unable to meet the dynamic needs of basic farmland protection.Additionally，the scientific and feasible operational procedural norms have not yet been fully applied to the adjustment and improvement of basic farmland protection planning.It lacks complete and detailed norms on regular testing of basic farmland quality，inspection of dynamic basic farmland adjustment and acceptance，and also lacks system of accountability for the loose approval behavior，so that there are loopholes to exploit for the illegal land occupation.

3.2.4 Declining enthusiasm for protecting basic farmland.As far as farmers are concerned，after the delimitation of basic farmland，they can be only engaged in the production of agricultural products，which to a certain extent restricts their land operation and income.The opportunity cost can not be reasonably allocated in society but the external benefits are often shared by the whole society.For a long time，the income of farmers from growing grain is relatively low，while the benefits from planting flowers，seedlings or digging ponds to breed fish are higher，so some farmers change the use of basic farmland to increase income.In addition，most young adults choose to work in cities to raise income，thus leading to a lack of labor and a large area of abandoned farmland.

4 Conclusions and recommendations

4.1 ConclusionsFarmland is the basis of agriculture，and also a valuable and irreplaceable resource.Effectively protecting farmland and adhering to the＂red line＂of1.8 billion mu of farmland is China＇s basic national policy.The basic farmland is the best farmland most suitable for food production，so the protection of basic farmland is of great importance to economic and social development and national food security.The economic，social and policy environment for basic farmland protection is changed constantly，so the methods and measures for the basic farmland protection should also be timely adjusted and improved.

4.2 Recommendations

4.2.1 Focusing on the quality management of basic farmland.First，it is necessary to improve the farmland quality which determines the level of land productivity，give full play to the value of even，fertile and high-yielding farmland，improve the infrastructure construction，and strengthen the dynamic regulation to steadily enhance the overall grain production capacity.Secondly，it is necessary to classify the basic farmland，determine the amount and spatial distribution of basic farmland，and build a quality management system for basic farmland to reasonably reflect the quality of farmland，to effectively master the dynamic changes in the quantity and quality of basic farmland，and timely update the basic farmland information.Finally，in order to successfully carry out the basic farmland consolidation and expand agricultural operation scale，it is necessary to pay attention to the continuity of basic farmland.Relative to fragmented farmland，the large-scale operation needs highly continuous farmland.

4.2.2 Establishing the incentive motivation mechanism for the basic farmland protection.For farmers，the delineation of basic farmland protection areas will lose a number of development opportunities，and the opportunity cost can not be reasonably shared in the society.Once the cost is increased，farmers＇enthusiasm will be reduced to a certain extent.This requires the whole society to share the basic farmland protection responsibility and increase government subsidies for basic farmland protection to improve the farmers＇enthusiasm for the protection of basic farmland.Government should improve the initiative to increase basic investment in basic farmland，in order to increase food production，increase income of farmers from planting crops and mobilize farmers＇enthusiasm for protecting basic farmland.Meanwhile，it is necessary to form the basic farmland protection mechanism that farmers participate in，and reward the units or individuals for their contribution to improvement of basic farmland quality and basic farmland protection.

4.2.3 Improving the basic farmland protection system.It is necessary to strengthen the construction of the land system，and especially enhance the construction of basic farmland protection system，to further regulate the responsibility and rights of basic farmland protection.Meanwhile，it is necessary to coordinate the relationship between basic farmland protection planning and local development，to ensure the smooth implementation of basic farmland protection.It is worth noting that with the continuous development of society，there is a changing demand for institutional system，so it is necessary to advance with the times and blaze new trails to carry out the institutional construction based on the economic and social situation and crack down on violations of land act to form long-term mechanism for basic farmland protection.

4.2.4 Reinforcing the high-standard management and protection of basic farmland.Only by taking effective measures to carry out high-standard management and protection of basic farmland can the overall efficiency be achieved.There is a need to build highstandard basic farmland to provide certain basis for the comprehensive construction of agricultural infrastructure and agricultural modernization.It is necessary to establish the perfect management and protection system to ensure the efficient use of special management and protection funds and enhance the level of management；establish a long-term monitoring mechanism and set the assessment tasks of managers；increase publicity efforts to enhance the sense of responsibility and mobilize the enthusiasm of staff by taking a variety of forms of activities.

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