Author John Paull (China’s Organic Revolution, Journal of Organic Systems from 2000 to 2006) claims China moved from 45th to 2nd position globally in the number of hectares under organic management.
In the year 2005/2006, China added 12% to the world’s organic area. This accounted for 63% of the world’s annual increase in organic land, and China now has 11% of the world’s organically managed land.
But in spite of China’s movement towards organic farming, almost 70% of China’s consumers feel insecure about food safety.
Recent events in Yunnan province, a major producer of vegetables and other farm products for Hong Kong and southern China, explains why.
Managers of the Luliang Chemical Industry Company Ltd. and the Sanli Fuel Company Ltd., along with three employees, two from a coal company, have been charged with the massive dumping of toxic waste into the Chachong Reservoir that could affect the drinking water for tens of millions of people.
More than 5,000 tons of hexavalent chromium-contaminated waste was dumped into the Chachong Reservoir between April and June, and was discovered after scores of livestock, mostly sheep, died from drinking out of a local pond.
The arrests and charges were announced Sunday at a news conference in Qujing City by authorities in southwest Yunnan Province.
According to CBC News, government officials initially denied the contamination of the reservoir, which feeds into one of China’s longest and most valuable waterways — the Pearl River.
At the time, officials said they had contained and cleaned the chromium-contaminated soil and water, but they now say the cleanup won’t be complete until the end of 2012.
CBC News warns that hexavalent chromium is easily absorbed by the body, and can cause vomiting, abdominal pain, dermatitis and eczema. Short-term and long-term contact or inhalation poses a cancer risk.
The Hong Kong secretary of health says authorities are testing vegetables for any signs of contamination.