In a situation far removed from the land split of 1978, China is now encouraging a consolidation of land in the hope of boosting economies of scale and incentivizing farmers.

To that end, China's central authorities have vowed to support the transfer and mortgage of land-use rights in order to faciliate large-scale farming.

As a result, China now has about 870,000 "family farms," each with an average area of 13 hectares. More than one million farming cooperatives have been established across the country.

"These organizations are an important force pushing ahead China's agricultural modernization," said Li.

Cheng suggested that China should put more effort into agricultural technology, which is key to improve productivity, since the arable land is quite limited.

A string of pro-agriculture policies are already in place, including farmer training, minimum grain purchase prices and protection of cultivated land area.

"These measures put China in a good position to ensuring food security for its people," said Misika.