Shanghai is combing its 200,000 hectares of farmland for heavy metals, organic pollutants and other potential dangers to food safety.
Zheng Zonghe, an official with the municipal authority for farm product safety, said the survey, the first ever in the history of the east China city, would produce vital data relating to the farmland environment.
Based on the findings of the survey, Shanghai will rate its farmland in four categories.
Land in the first and second categories will be considered safe and will be used for yielding quality farm produce, particularly those for export.
Farmland in the third category will need to be upgraded for the production of general farm products.
And farmland in the fourth category will be cited unsafe for food production. Only trees and flowers will be grown on this land.
The survey, begun in April, is expected to be completed by the end of next year.
(People?s Daily April 24, 2002)
