LHASA, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Tibet will add 100,000 mu of high-standard cropland this year to increase its farming productivity and ensure grain security in the plateau region, local authorities announced Wednesday.

According to the Tibetan Agriculture Comprehensive Development Bureau, Tibet plans to build 400,000 mu (a Chinese unit of area equivalent to 667 square meters) of high-standard cropland from 2011 to 2015.

"High-standard cropland" refers to arable land where the yield has been improved through artificial means, including leveling of the ground and the use of irrigation and other advanced technology to increase soil fertility.

Guan Weixing, a researcher of the Tibet Academy of Agricultural and Animal Husbandry Sciences said that he and another colleague would go to the countryside to provide agricultural technical services during 2012.

"After the transformation of high-standard cropland, the productivity must be substantially improved," Guan said.

Tibet has a total of 5.35 million mu of cropland to date, but 40 percent of it is low- or medium-yield. About 3.5 million mu of its cropland needs to be upgraded to increase productivity, according to the local agricultural department.

The transformation project has received investment from the Finance Ministry and local financial departments.