The nation's amount of arable land has been diminishing at an annual rate of almost 175 square kilometers over the last five years.



The Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said that over 18-thousand-200 hectares of farmland had been diverted for nonagricultural use last year.



The largest portion of the land --- almost 84-hundred hectares --- had been used to build public facilities such as roads and railroads. Nearly 25-hundred hectares was used to build mining and manufacturing facilities including industrial parks.



The ministry said it plans to control development in certain farming areas in order to retain the minimum one-point-six million hectares of arable land necessary for stable food supply.



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