The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said on the 30th that 21.1% of those surveyed in the basic farmland probe are suspected of being used for illegal leasing. The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs will finish the basic probe this month and begin in-depth inspections starting next month.
This year's comprehensive farmland survey by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs separates the process into a "basic probe," focused on verifying administrative information, and an "in-depth probe," centered on on-site checks, covering 1.36 million hectares (ha) of farmland acquired on or after Jan. 1, 1996. The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs began the basic probe on May 18 and completed 1.32 million ha, or 97% of those surveyed, by July 29.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said the basic probe found that 27.0% of farmland is suspected of violating ownership limits, illegal leasing, illegal conversion, or unauthorized fallowing. Specifically, suspected illegal leasing accounted for 21.1%, suspected unauthorized fallowing 11.6%, suspected illegal conversion 9.0%, and ownership limit violations 1.4%.
The in-depth probe will proceed in the order of on-site inspections followed by supplementary checks. For the first time, the ministry will deploy the National Agricultural Products Quality Management Service, which has field-cultivation investigative expertise from its work on the public direct payment program and farm business registrations, to the in-depth probe.
The principle for on-site inspections is that officials and investigators visit the farmland to verify usage conditions directly, and investigators will receive support for transportation and fuel costs. However, in areas that are hard to access, such as islands and mountain regions, drones and aerial and satellite imagery will be used.
In the supplementary checks, the ministry will further verify issues that are difficult to confirm on site, such as whether illegal leasing occurred. While requesting supporting documents from farmland owners, the ministry will also use additional administrative information, Q&A surveys with resident participation, and field inquiries to ease the paperwork burden on elderly farmers.