In late March this year, Harbin City found a number of theft and sale of black soil. After multiple investigations, a long chain of black soil interests gradually surfaced. Illegal traders have set their eyes on the fertile black soil resources in Heilongjiang, and under the banner of renting land, they have been stealing black soil from woodlands, wetlands and fields and selling it far away to southern regions.
Soil is one of the most basic elements of the natural environment, which we have long been used to. Why do some people use it for profit and why does the sale of black soil violate the bottom line of the law?
What is black soil?
The largest rice production base in China is the Sanjiang Plain and the Songnen Plain in the northeast. I believe many people have heard of Wuchang rice, a prestigious brand of high quality rice, whose origin is located in the city of Wuchang on the Songnen Plain.
Northeast rice and various agricultural products are widely welcomed by people all over the country, both in terms of production and quality, to meet the needs of the market. Today, the total grain production in Northeast China accounts for 25% of the country’s total production, and 33% of the total commercial grain production. In addition to the flat terrain and high degree of agricultural mechanization, there is no more important factor than the fertile soil in the Northeast.
The black soil is actually the best soil
(Photo: shutterstock)▼
Wuchang City at the southeastern end of the Songnen Plain
The city is located on the Northeast Black Soil Belt, an important commercial grain base▼
Fertile soil on the one hand, and large arable land per capita on the other
It is only then that a large amount of surplus grain is produced for the commodity market
(Comparison of rural areas in Northeast China and Henan Province, map: google map) ▼
The black soil of Northeast China has become widely known through various literary works, and “black soil” has long been a cultural symbol representing Guanzhou. In addition, black soil is one of the most fertile and suitable soil types for farming in the world.
Black soil is a homogeneous humus soil formed under the conditions of temperate humid climate and grassland meadow vegetation. It needs to be formed under the conditions of warm and rainy summers and severe winters. The soil is rich in organic matter, which can be several times higher compared to loess. The good soil properties and sufficient ground strength make it ideal for plant growth.
This formation condition is very suitable for the Northeast
Thousands of years of plants and animals composted in the ground
to form this black soil more than half a meter deep
(Within Wuchang City, photo: google map) ▼
There are only four black soil areas in the world. The first one is in the Ukrainian plain, covering an area of about 1.9 million square kilometers. With its natural advantages, Ukraine has been known as the “breadbasket of Europe,” but after the collapse of the Soviet Union, due to social unrest, the agricultural output did not reflect the effect of the land’s fertility.
Four black soil regions▼
Ukraine is to Europe what the Northeast is to China
The black soil has made this great breadbasket
(Photo: shutterstock)▼
The second is in the Mississippi Plain of the United States, covering an area of about 1.2 million square kilometers. This is one of the world’s leading grain-producing regions, and the fertile land, fed by the many tributaries of the Mississippi River, and highly mechanized production methods have allowed the United States to secure its position as the world’s number one food producer.
And the United States has the largest arable land per capita, which is rarely matched.
Therefore, the United States is the world’s largest exporter of commercial food.
(Figure: google map)▼
The third is the familiar Argentine Pampas, a land that supports more than 60 million head of cattle, as well as a vast expanse of wheat and corn. It has allowed agriculture to become one of the pillar industries of Argentina, and its agricultural products are exported all over the world.
It is also huge in scale, with a higher percentage of individual farmers than in the United States
(Photo: google map)▼
The last piece is the northeastern plain of the country. In the 1950s and 1960s, the country began a vigorous campaign to “develop the northern wasteland” and systematically reclaimed the wasteland in the Northeast.
The reclamation of the Northeast greatly alleviated the problem of food shortage in China at that time, and the deployment of grain in the Northeast also played an important role in suppressing and regulating grain prices in the early years of the founding of the new China. It can be said that this is another evidence of the significant contribution of the Northeast to the newborn Republic.
Schematic representation of soil types in the Northeast▼
However, black soil resources are also currently under threat. With the expansion of the reclaimed area, together with the rough agricultural production methods and the destruction of natural vegetation, the top layer of black soil is facing the problem of erosion. In fact, it takes about 300 years to form a centimeter-thick layer of black soil, and the protection of black soil has become urgent.
To this end, last year, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and the Ministry of Finance introduced the “Northeast Blackland Conservation Tillage Action Plan”, which stipulates that within the next five years, the implementation of conservation tillage will reach 140 million mu. The formation of a more complete policy support system for conservation tillage, technical equipment system and promotion and application system. This provision will protect 70% of the northeast black land.
However, while the country is so concerned about the status of the protection of black land, there are many people who are frantically stealing this valuable natural resource.
The new plant
Because of the excellent soil fertility of black soil, this gift of nature is being targeted by unscrupulous businessmen. In the Phoenix Mountain Valley in Wuchang City, Heilongjiang, hundreds of acres of good land and wetlands were “skinned” and dug up, and large areas of black land were devastated.
According to local villagers, some businessmen came here to contract and rent land. After getting the land they do not cultivate it, they engage in this business of digging. The excavated black soil is then sold to the city to raise flowers and vegetables, and sold to the southern provinces.
Seeing that selling black soil is profitable, many locals have started digging their own black soil and selling it to these middlemen. A ton of black soil can sell for thousands of dollars, which seems to be a “no-brainer” for the villagers. So many villagers let their land sit idle, dedicated to digging black soil, and do not sow it.
But let’s think about it from a personal perspective
Even if the black land is so productive
But the speed of selling food and making money is far less than selling “land” directly
(Photo: Old Mountain Product Creative) ▼
This chain of interest has existed in the area for several years. And this year, the trade in fertile black soil has become more rampant due to the rise in fertilizer prices. A large amount of black soil was piled on top of the cultivated land after being stolen too late to be transported out, forming a huge black mountain.
During the interview, the reporter asked the villagers how many black soil extraction sites there were. The answer was that there were about 10 bǎng [shǎng] of land.
In the northeast of China, 垧 is a common unit of measurement for the area, and those who have watched the TV series “Breaking Through” may have some impressions. 1 垧 is about 15 mu, and 10 垧 is 150 mu. That’s nearly 100,000 square meters of land that has been destroyed.
If you continue to dig deeper into the trading chain, it is not difficult to find the flow of the black soil. In recent years, a lot of so-called “flower soil”, “rice field soil”, “grass charcoal soil” and other kinds of black soil appeared online, sold on e-commerce platforms, by the major nursery bases and The market is a large one. The volume of this market is surprisingly large.
Driven by the interest, many local villagers also joined the army of poaching, but this is really for them a hundred benefits but no harm? The answer is no.
Black soil can only settle 2 to 3 millimeters per year, according to the local Public Security Bureau investigation report shows that in some places the cultivated land has been excavated down to a depth of 2 meters, revealing the underground white soil layer. Obviously, the farming value of this land is permanently discounted. What about when the black soil is sold out?
The “thickness” of the black soil is very important
It determines the ability of the land to sustainably develop and maintain its fertility
After all, beneath the humus-rich soil lies the barren sandy soil
The black soil of the Northeast can be several meters deep, but it is not susceptible to poaching.
(Photo: shutterstock)▼
On the other hand, digging up and selling soil from cultivated land is a violation of our criminal law. According to Article 342 of the Criminal Law, if arable land is illegally occupied in violation of land management regulations to build kilns, graves, houses, dig sand, quarry, mine, extract soil, pile solid waste or carry out other non-agricultural construction, resulting in serious destruction of cultivation conditions or serious pollution of arable land, and the amount of destroyed arable land reaches the above level, it falls under the category of “causing substantial destruction of arable land” as stipulated in this article. “. The penalty is imprisonment or detention for a term of up to five years, and a fine or single fine.
As the criminal chain of illegal excavation and trafficking of black soil in Wuchang City gradually surfaced, the perpetrators are bound to be sanctioned by law.
Not a day’s work
Now, those responsible are being tracked down and the case is moving forward. But the incident is still full of doubts and there are still many mysteries to be solved.
First of all, it is not a secret that black soil is extracted and illegally sold in the local area. The black soil that is piled up in the fields can be seen as soon as you walk by. Nearly 100,000 square meters of land is being excavated every day, and large trucks are sent back and forth. Such a large amount of work, want to cover up the ears is impossible to complete.
As for the transaction method, the method, and the person in charge of each intermediate link, a foreign reporter can ask a general question just by taking a trip to the market, why the local authorities do not know. Or, they know but do not act.
Agriculture is the foundation of the country, arable land resources is China’s key protection of state-owned resources. Rural Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Finance jointly issued the “Action Plan” focused on “four provinces and regions in the northeast to promote the application of conservation tillage as an important task, to do a good job of related financial security and work force coordination, according to local conditions to improve the policy system of conservation tillage.”
In order to dig the soil and contract farmland, the use of land is certainly contrary to the relevant laws and regulations. And the villagers for the purpose of businessmen renting land is clear, that the local land management department for this matter is informed, is also a question worth exploring.
What we know now is that we have only seen the tip of the iceberg of this interest chain of excavation and trafficking of black soil. As the investigation progresses, more details will be revealed to the public.
Beyond the law, we can also pay attention to the Northeast agricultural issues. The northeast is China’s most important food production base, the black land is known as “grab a handful of soil can clutch oil,” the rich land. But the fertile land does not bring farmers enough returns. The price of agricultural products is not enough to meet farmers’ production and living needs. Therefore, in the face of the temptation of money, the farmers would rather compromise the long-term interests and destroy the arable land in exchange for a small profit in the immediate future.
Capital does not have a long-term vision, and businessmen only know that black soil trading can make money at present, and if they do not seize this opportunity, it will be unprofitable when the wind passes. In order to maximize economic benefits, food production reduction or food safety or environmental damage, are the “price” that can be paid.
In this case, it seems that the southern businessmen have earned and the northeastern farmers have lost. In fact, the issue of food security is a hair to move the whole body, if the Northeast grain production, the national food reserves and supply are affected. Food prices are high, the national prices will be subject to different degrees of volatility, which in turn affects the domestic economy.
Under the nest, there is a perfect egg?
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