Yearender: China Scores Progress in Agricultural Restructuring

Home>>Opinion

Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, November 30, 2001

Yearender: China Scores Progress in Agricultural Restructuring

Despite the decrease in grain output due to droughts and reduced acreage, the year 2001 will be remembered as a year when marked progress was made in the strategic restructuring of China's agriculture and rural economy.
The figures for the first half of this year have shown that said China produced 33.4 million tons of meat and 17.02 million tons of aquatic products during the period, up 4.3 percent and 3 percent over the same period of last year, respectively.

Hi-tech Agriculture in Dongguan

Much progress made despite grain production drop

Despite the decrease in grain output due to droughts and reduced acreage, the year 2001 will be remembered as a year when marked progress was made in the strategic restructuring of China's agriculture and rural economy.

About 8.6 million hectares of summer crops were hit by drought, causing a fall in crop yield to varying degrees for at least 3.3 million hectares.

Statistics on China's agriculture and rural economy for 2001 are still at least two months away, but officials with the Ministry of Agriculture and experts are applauding the initial progress China has made in agriculture and the rural economy.

Citing figures for the first half of this year, they said China produced 33.4 million tons of meat and 17.02 million tons of aquatic products during the period, up 4.3 percent and 3 percent over the same period of last year, respectively.

Bountifully Rewarded

Meanwhile, township enterprises, which have created jobs for millions of rural residents over the past two decades, posted 1.4 trillion yuan (169.2 billion U.S. dollars) in total added value, up 11.2 percent with an 11-percent increase in profit.

Output of quality farm produce increased

The brightest spot of China's agriculture, experts say, is the rapid increase of output of quality farm produce, such as wheat, rice and corn, and organic vegetables.

Demand for quality and healthy food has been increasing in recent years, and farmers across the country are beginning to respond to the demand, thought the supply far outstrips the demand.

The acreage given to quality wheat for special use, such as forbread production, has been increased by 1.3 million hectares, almost one-fifth of the total acreage under wheat in China.

Sichuan Gains Initial Results in Planting Trees in Dry-Heat Valley

The increased output of the quality wheat has reduced China's demand for imported wheat, said the experts.

The acreage under quality early rice exceeded half of the total acreage of early rice, 23 percentage points higher than the same period of last year.

Rice has been the major stable food for at least half of China's 1.2 billion people.

Initial results of production mix restructuring nationwide

Agricultural experts have been very pleased to see the initial results of nationwide restructuring of agricultural production mix.

The provinces of Hebei, Shandong, Henan, Shanxi and Shaanxi in northern China account for over half of the country's wheat acreage due to the restructuring, while farming areas in the Yangtze River valley and northeast China have reduced their wheat sowing area.

The comparative farming advantage of the five dry provinces, among other things is wheat production due to their lack of rainfall and better soil and sunlight conditions.

The farming areas in the Yangtze River valley, where adequate water resources and sufficient heat and sunlight make them ideal for rice production and other products, are expanding the acreage under quality rice.

China's production of rapeseed, beef, peanut, apple and other products has also been experiencing readjustment for comparative advantages.

Farming areas in coastal China and places surrounding big cities produce three-quarters of the country's farm produce for export, thanks to their geographic and technological advantages over poor, backward inland areas.

The per capita cash income of farmers grew by 50 yuan (six U.S.dollars) to 1,060 yuan (129 U.S. dollars) during the first half ofthis year, putting an end to the decrease of agriculture-related income during the past three consecutive years.

Challenge brought by WTO access

The most far-reaching event for China's agriculture so far this year has been China's entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO), exposing tens of millions of Chinese farmers to competition from outside China.

Although China will become a full member of the world trade body next month, the influence of WTO entry has already been felt in part of the country.

Northeast China, the country's major producing area of soybeans,will likely import more soybeans than it exports for the first time in history.

Experts predict that the increased import may cause some problem for Chinese soybean growers to market their own product. Rice, corn, fruit, rubber and many other types of farm produce will face same sort of challenge from other parts of the world, said the experts.

Farmers urged to readjust production and improve quality

Qia Tao, deputy director of the Agricultural and Rural Work Commission of the Jilin provincial government, said agricultural restructuring and establishing a management and circulation system adaptable to the international market is a must for China to minimize its risk of market opening.

Chinese farmers, he said, must constantly readjust their production and improve the quality and market competitiveness of their products in order to survive the competition.

See more photos about changes of Chinese countryside

Major Grain Producer Expects to Yield 20 Billion Kilograms

Millions of Chinese Survive Unprecedented Drought

China's Agriculture Expects Big Changes