Wasteland is being improved and contracted to farmer for cultivation with an annual rent. Farmers are given 30- to 50-year user rights to the contracted land, so that they may further invest in improving the land. What would be a fair rent for such land? I made an effort to find this out. The following are some construction costs and annual rents for various types of improved land in the Yan'an region. The land is being developed by the Loess Plateau Watershed Rehabilitation Project which is partially financed by a loan from the World Bank.
In the beginning of the project, not sure just how much the farmers were willing to pay for rents, they started out relatively low. From the table below, we see that there is rapid increase in the rents for all types of improved land. The land is contracted as soon as it is developed, promising even higher rents to be acceptable. This is a good sign since it encourages land development.
| Year | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1996 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| terrace plots (cost) | 373 | 476 | 486 | 473 |
| terrace plots (rent) | 20 | 30 | 35 | 50 |
| sediment plots (cost) | 1417 | 1448 | 1586 | 1742 |
| sediment plots (rent) | 50 | 80 | 100 | 120 |
| irrigated plots (cost) | 1326 | 1460 | 1535 | 1667 |
| irrigated plots (rent) | 40 | 60 | 70 | 100 |
| orchard (cost) | 282 | 319 | 358 | 360 |
| orchard (rent) | 30 | 50 | 60 | 80 |
| shrubs (cost) | 47 | 55 | 56 | 60 |
| shrubs (rent) | 3 | 5 | 5 | 6 |
Corn is planted on terrace plots created by project
on hill tops. (right) Narrow contour strips are only good for fruit trees.