<p>Unfortunate news from a recent government land survey in China shows that traces of toxic metals and residues from pesticides banned in the 1980s are contaminating large amounts of the country's farmland. State researchers have said that as much as 70% of China's soils could have problems, according to Reuters.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">In order to get as much yield from its land as possible, China has put thousands of farms in close proximity to chemical plants, mines, and other heavy industries. However, food grown in large swaths of the country may be as unsafe as food grown near factories. Reuters reported that due to historic and current industrial activities, 8 million acres in China, about the same land area as Belgium, are so polluted that any food crops grown there would be dangerous for human consumption.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Wang Shiyuan, the vice-minister of land and resources, told a news briefing that no more planting on this contaminated land would be allowed and that the government was determined to prevent toxic metals entering the food chain. Wang said that China had committed "tens of billions of yuan," or billions of dollars, per year to fund projects aimed at cleaning up contaminated land and underground water supplies.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">In 2013, rice with extremely high levels of the heavy metal cadmium was found being sold in markets.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">"In the past there have been news reports about cadmium-contaminated rice - these kinds of problems have already been strictly prohibited," said Wang.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Will China clean up its contaminated farmlands? Stay tuned as we continue to follow this story as it develops.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><a class="btn btn-sm btn-primary col-lg-12" style="white-space: normal;" href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/12/30/china-environment-farmland-idUSL3N0K90OY20131230" target="_new"> Reuters </a></p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">
