China's foodgrains: Production and performance, 1949–1981 |
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| Authors: | A J Jowett |
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| Institution: | (1) Dept. of Geogr., University of Glasgow, G12 8QQ Glasgow, UK |
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| Abstract: | Taking advantage of the increased flow of economic data from Mainland China, this article reviews the development of the foodgrain sector over the period 1949–81. Rice, wheat and maize are the dominant crops, they currently occupy 70% of the total foodgrain acreage and provide 80% of production. China's doubling of foodgrain production over the past 30 years (1952–81) has been achieved through a substantial intensification and modernisation of the agricultural sector. Faced with the major constraint of a very limited supply of arable land, production increases have had to come from increasing yields rather than from expanding acreage. While the productivity of land has increased significantly, the productivity of labour appears to have stagnated or declined from the late 1950s to the late 1970s. Nevertheless, increased grain production, allied to a successful food distribution system, has given China the ability to feed 22% of the world's population from only 7% of the world's arable land. In an endeavour to overcome the problems of low productivity and low rural incomes, a major shift in Government policy has taken place in the post-Mao era. Increased material incentives, increased autonomy, increased grain imports and the abandonment of collective agriculture in favour of family farming, have greatly improved production, productivity, profitability and consumption in rural China.Abbreviations JPRS
Joint Publications Research Service
- PSMA
(China Report) Political, Sociological & Military Affairs |
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