BEIJING -- The government will spend 37.36 billion yuan(about $5.93 billion) to improve the quality of farmland this year, the Ministry of Finance said Thursday.

The fund, which is a part of the country's comprehensive agricultural development plan, includes 21.92 billion yuan from the central budget and 12.05 billion yuan from local budgets, the ministry said.

The government plans to improve the quality of 1.03 million hectares of medium- and low-yield land and build 0.89 million?hectares of high-quality farmland by the end of 2012, said the ministry.

The government will also support improvements for 45 water-saving projects in medium-sized irrigation districts, said the ministry.

The projects will add or improve irrigation on?1.72 million?hectares of land, aiming to increase agricultural production capacity, it said.