China39;s first food security law aimed at achieving absolute selfsufficiency in staple grains came into effect on Saturday, reinforcing efforts by the world39;s biggest agriculture importer to lower its reliance on overseas purchases.

The law provides a legal framework for existing guidance by the Communist Party for local governments and the agricultural industry to raise food production, although it did not give details on how the law will be implemented.

It includes protection of farmland from being converted to other uses, protecting germplasm resources and preventing wastage.

Passed just six months after its first reading, the rush to adopt the food security law reflects China39;s urgency to resolve issues that have curbed production, such as a lack of arable land and water resources, labour shortages and a lack of agriculture technology.

The law holds central and provincial governments accountable for incorporating food security into their economic and development plans, ensuring that food supply remains a top priority in the country that has a painful history of famine.

The party will lead the implementation of a national food security strategy that puts China first by importing moderately and using advances in science and technology to boost production, according to a provision in the law.

It shall adhere to the principle of storing grain in the ground and using technology to improve grain production, it said, to ensure basic selfsufficiency in cereal…