Soil degradation affects more than 40% of China's arable land

More than 40% of China’s arable land is suffering from degradation, Reuters reported, citing state media. The degradation, which includes acidification in the south, is said to encompass around 3.3 million hectares of land, according to a Xinhua report. The agricultural ministry wants to create 53 million hectares of connected farmland by 2020 in an effort to combat drought, since larger farms are more suitable to irrigation and other modern farming practices. Authorities hope to better monitor soil contamination and speed up the legal process for protecting farmland and are currently drafting a new law to do so, but it is not expected to be completed until at least 2017.