The quality of arable land in Hubei has steadily improved over the past five years, establishing a strong foundation for the province's substantial grain production, a local official said on Monday, two days ahead of the National Land Day.

Hubei has firmly safeguarded the lifeline of arable land and implemented multiple measures to protect and restore the land, said Li Guang, director of the province's land consolidation and rehabilitation center at a news conference in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei.

"The province restored 1.56 million mu (104,000 hectare) of lost arable land in 2023 and 1.22 million mu of lost arable land in 2024," Li said, adding that 1.11 million mu of arable land was added and stabilized in the recent two years and 4.13 billion yuan ($574.48 million) was allocated for arable land protection.

With a focus on high-yield production per unit, Hubei has implemented a range of measures to promote optimal and intensive land use. These initiatives include enhancing monitoring, evaluation and assessment of land use, improving land utilization rates through layout optimization, and increasing investment in land and the use of advanced technology, Li said.

The steady improvement in the quality of arable land in Hubei over the past five years has laid a robust foundation for the province's grain production to maintain stability at over 25 billion kilograms for 12 consecutive years, he added.

He emphasized that the province has strictly enforced laws and regulations regarding arable land protection. Moreover, the implementation of a provincial-level mechanism aimed at normalizing and ensuring the long-term effectiveness of arable land protection efforts has enabled a shift in arable land protection law enforcement "from passive to proactive, from post-event to pre-event, and from a focus solely on internal affairs to a more comprehensive approach considering both internal and external factors."