<P> As China continues to industrialize, vast swaths of agricultural land is being converted into industrial land . Farmers displaced by such urban expansion often become migrant labor for factories, but other farmers feel disenfranchised and cheated by the encroachment of industry and the growing disparity between urban and rural wealth and income . </P> <P> The most recent innovation in Chinese agriculture is a push into organic agriculture . This rapid embrace of organic farming simultaneously serves multiple purposes, including food safety, health benefits, export opportunities, and, by providing price premiums for the produce of rural communities, the adoption of organics can help stem the migration of rural workers to the cities . In the mid-1990s China became a net importer of grain, since its unsustainable practises of groundwater mining has effectively removed considerable land from productive agricultural use . </P> <P> Although China's agricultural output is the largest in the world, only about 15% of its total land area can be cultivated . China's arable land, which represents 10% of the total arable land in the world, supports over 20% of the world's population . Of this approximately 1.4 million square kilometers of arable land, only about 1.2% (116,580 square kilometers) permanently supports crops and 525,800 square kilometers are irrigated . The land is divided into approximately 200 million households, with an average land allocation of just 0.65 hectares (1.6 acres). </P> <P> China's limited space for farming has been a problem throughout its history, leading to chronic food shortage and famine . While the production efficiency of farmland has grown over time, efforts to expand to the west and the north have met with limited success, as such land is generally colder and drier than traditional farmlands to the east . Since the 1950s, farm space has also been pressured by the increasing land needs of industry and cities . </P>

How much of china's land is good for farming