Chapter 3
Actions and Achievements in the Major Fields of Sustainable Development
Section 4 Agriculture and Rural Areas
I. BackgroundII. Actions and Achievements3.19 The Chinese Government has consistently paid special attention to the development of agriculture and rural areas, and has made substantial headway in ensuring food self-sufficiency and development of the rural economy. Our successes are acknowledged by the entire world. However, the Chinese Government is well aware of the great challenges confronting China's agriculture: the large population, agricultural resources scarcity on a per capita basis, and outdated agricultural infrastructure. The development of sustainable agriculture is not only an important component of China's overall sustainable development strategy but also a major task for China to ensure its food security and social stability.
3.20 Formulation of strategies for sustainable agriculture development and perfection of agricultural policies, laws, and regulations
Since 1992, the Chinese Government has, in line with the strategic overview on sustainable agriculture development, drafted and revised a series of agricultural laws and regulations, and successively enacted the "Basic Law on Agriculture of the People's Republic of China", the "Land Administration Law of the People's Republic of China", the "Law of the People's Republic of China on Water and Soil Conservation", the "Law on Popularisation of Agro-Technology", etc. It has also worked out China's strategy for sustainable agriculture development and set the objectives for sustainable development (i.e. the development of rural society and economy, increased farmers' income, alleviation of rural poverty and backwardness, protected and improved the ecological environment for agricultural development, rational and sustainable utilisation of natural resources, strict control of agricultural ecological degradation and resources damage) so as to ensure the steady growth of agriculture and the rural economy. In recent years, agricultural production, particularly the production of grains, cotton, and oil-bearing plants, has stabilised the fluctuating state of the early 1990s. The output of grains and other main products is growing and the rural economy is developing in a steady and healthy way. In 1996, the national grain output reached 490 million tons, 8.9% higher than that of 1990.
China is currently self-sufficient in terms of food supply. In 1996, the total grain production exceeded 490 million tons. According to the forecasts of Chinese experts, when the population of China reaches its peak of 1.6 billion in 2030, the average food per capita will be 400 kilograms. This is enough to ensure that future improvements in living standards and nutritional requirements are possible. At this time, the total demand for grain will be 640 million tons. The basic strategy of China to solve the food supply-demand problems is: based on the principle of using domestic resources to achieve the goal of a largely domestic food supply, China will make efforts to increase the food production. Under normal conditions, 95% of the food will be supplied from domestic sources. The food imports will be no more than 5% of the total food consumption in China. There are already many factors favouring China's achievement of food self-sufficiency by relying on its own efforts in the future. According to China's agricultural resources, production condition, technological level and other conditions, there is great potential for achieving increases in grain production: the potential for an increase in the unit yield
the potential to convert unused arable land resources
into farmland the potential to depend on advances in science
and technology |
3.21 Promotion of integrated agricultural development and improvement of food production capacity
- The amelioration of medium- and low-yield fields
Some medium- and low-yield fields have been ameliorated by improving irrigation and drainage facilities, levelling farmland, and transforming hillsides into terraced fields. From 1991 to 1995, China ameliorated a total of 8 million hectares of medium- and low-yield fields. With these improvements, the unit grain output has been remarkably raised on the Huang-Huai-Hai Plain.
- The control of water and soil erosion and improvement of agricultural
production conditions
Through water and soil conservation, 11 million hectares of farmland have been protected by the building of terraced fields and flatlands or by transforming sandy lands into farmlands. In this way, lands that once suffered water, soil, and mineral erosion have been turned into farmland of high and steady yield, and the land productivity and the land utilisation rate have been effectively raised.
- Constant construction of water conservation projects for farmland
By 1995, China's irrigated farmlands had been expanded to 50.41 million hectares with a 400 billion cubic metre irrigation capacity. This capacity has also been improved by fighting and preventing disasters in agriculture to some extent.
- Comprehensive development and control of regional agriculture
The key projects for comprehensive development and control in the period of 1991-1995 (which focused on the Huang-Huai-Hai Plain, Song-Nen Plain, Sanjiang Plain, Liaohe River Delta Plain, Taihu Lake Plain, Jianghan Plain, and Chengdu Plain) have achieved preliminary success. The "Mountain, River and Lake Project" of Jiangxi Province aims at the comprehensive sustainable agricultural development and control of mountains, rivers, and lakes and is a large drainage area control project. With the comprehensive planning, development, and control of over 160,000 square kilometres, over 2 million farmers have been brought out of poverty. Water and soil erosion, ecological deterioration, environmental pollution, and endemic diseases have been effectively controlled. Clearly, a solid basis for future sustainable development has been created in the mountain, river, and lake areas.
Picture 3-7 The Mountain, River, and Lake Project in Jiangxi Province
- Capacity building for food transportation security
"The National Information System on Grain Storage" and the "Expert Consultation System on Grain Storage" have been established in order to offer consultant services to farmers for safe and scientific grain storage. Key technologies have been developed for the streamlined bulk loading, unloading, storage, and transportation of grains, and some demonstrations have been made in the World Bank-supported grain circulation areas, such as the Northeastern Corridor, Yangtze River corridor, and Southwestern Corridor. The results of these demonstrations show that expenses have been reduced, losses from the circulation process have been reduced, and "virtual farmland" has been created. All of these have provided rational and orderly grain circulation.
3.22 Promotion of agricultural development by science and education, and enhancement of capacity for sustainable rural development
- Implementation of the "Seed Project"
A system has been instituted for breeding, introducing, processing, selling, and popularising superior varieties of seeds.
- Emphasis on the transformation of research achievements into practical
applications, development of important technologies for agricultural production,
and the popularisation of these research achievements
The main effort is directed towards some major applicable agricultural technologies, including selection of superior breeds, dry-land seedling, sparse growing, toss planting of rice, land-covering, comprehensive prevention and control of diseases and pests, scientific application of fertiliser and water-saving irrigation, etc. On the basis of the traditional intensive and indigenous farming, new technologies - e.g. the use of organic fertiliser to conserve the nutritious elements in the soil - are applied and, as a result, a technological system for sustainable agriculture (which is a combination of the traditional farming and modern agriculture) techniques has been set up.
- Enhancement of vocational technical training
A three-tiered network for disseminating agricultural technology in a county-township-village frame has been formed. Support and assistance is given to the private professional technological organisations in various forms. It is in this manner that a service system is taking shape for disseminating agricultural technologies, with mutual support between state, collective, and private technological organisations.
3.23 Progress in ecological agriculture construction
Ecological agriculture is an important approach for China's achievement of sustainable agriculture. Some Chinese researchers began to study ecological agriculture as early as the first half of the 1980s. Relevant government departments have organised programmes of different scales across the country for developing, demonstrating, and disseminating such techniques. Since 1994, the government has established pilot projects for ecological agriculture across the country, including experiments of 50 state-level pilot counties, 100 demonstration areas, 100 provincial-level pilot counties, and more than 2000 pilot townships and villages. The development of ecological agriculture has reinforced the foundation for future agricultural development, reduced the impacts of natural disaster, and brought ecological, economic, and social benefits. According to a survey, the pilot units of ecological agriculture enjoy an average grain output increase of 15% and a 12% per capita income surplus over the non-pilot areas. For example, in 1995 alone, within 105 pilot units in Hubei Province, the farmers' per capita income was 32% higher than the provincial average.
Jingshan County covers a land area of 3,504 square kilometres and has a population of 610,000. Before the development of ecological agriculture, the deterioration of the ecological environment had gravely affected agricultural production and economic development. The eco-agriculture project was started in 1985 and by 1995 the county had: forests and fruit bases of 67,000 hectares on mountains and hilly areas; fish pools of 1,400 hectares; small reservoirs of 9,400 hectares; ranches of 13,400 hectares, on which about 100,000 livestock are raised each year; biogas facilities used by 10% of households; a basic farmland protection zone of 49,000 hectares; 80% of agricultural wastes and forestry residues being used for growing edible fungus; a nature reserve of 300 square kilometres for ecological tourism; 110,000 farmers changing to ecological agricultural production, e.g. forestry, fruit, aquaculture, fungi, etc.; and processing of farming produce and by-products, and other activities in the secondary and tertiary industries. Compared with 1985, the 1994 grain output of 565,000 tons was an increase of 17.7%; the forest coverage rose from 23.5% to 40.8%; the amount of water and soil erosion dropped by 80%; and the organic content of farmland rose from 1.7% to 2.2%. In 1994, high-yield and steady-yield fields covered more than 46,000 hectares. Also, plant diseases and pests have become infrequent and lessened in destructive effect. The industrial pollution has been brought under effective control. The farmlands are surrounded by shelter belts and fruit-bearing trees, and the layouts of villages have been properly planned and expanded. In brief, the ecological environment has been greatly improved in Jingshan County. Compared with 1990, the 1994 industrial and agricultural
output value rose to RMB 3.55 billion yuan (a growth of 34.7%); the agricultural
output value was RMB 1.09 billion yuan (a growth of 9.4%); the output value
from diversified agriculture registered RMB 636 million yuan (an increase
of RMB 298 million yuan and an annual growth rate of 17.2%); and the fiscal
revenue reached RMB 78 million yuan (growing by more than 100%). In terms
of revenue, agricultural and forestry tax income grew by 50% (RMB 39 million
yuan) and the rural per capita net income increased by nearly 100% to RMB
1,580 yuan (this being RMB 359 yuan higher than the national average of
RMB 1221 yuan in 1994). |
Picture 3-8 An Eco-Agricultural Village - Poyang Lake Area, Jiangxi Province
3.24 Progress in environmental protection by township and village enterprisesTownship and village enterprises (TVEs) have become an important component of China's economy. However, TVEs have also become a new major source of environmental pollution, making the rural environmental problems increasingly serious. By building and perfecting the rural environment control organisations and monitoring networks, restructuring industrial and product structures, encouraging scale management, and limiting the development of polluting industries, the process of environment management and pollution control has been accelerated and great progress has been achieved in the environmental protection of rural areas. In 1995, the TVEs' industrial value-added per 10,000 yuan discharges of liquid waste, gas waste, and solid waste were reduced by 52.3%, 49.9%, and 50.6% respectively compared with 1990 levels. Meanwhile, the energy consumption was also reduced. The comprehensive energy consumption of the industrial value-added per 10,000 yuan was reduced to 4.48 tons of standard coal in 1995 compared with 7.46 tons of standard coal in 1990. This was an average yearly reduction of 9.7%.
3.25 Acceleration of rural social development
- Emergence of the rural social insurance system
The central and local governments have strengthened their input in disaster mitigation and prevention. In 1995, the Disaster Relief Fund allocated RMB 2.35 billion yuan to disaster victims to help them improve their situation. More than 10 million people were safely transported from disaster areas and housed, and 40 million received disaster mitigation and prevention relief in the form of food, clothing, housing, and medical care. Reform of the disaster mitigation and prevention management system has been advanced. The local government accounted for 19.1% of the total expenditure on disaster mitigation and prevention. Societal relief and poverty alleviation were developed in tandem. In 1995, 31.528 million poor people benefited from the relief supplied by the State and the society, and the civil affairs departments assisted 6.963 million families. Within the year, 1.938 million families had escaped poverty, a success rate of 27.8%. The policy of the "Five Guarantees" (guaranteeing food, shelter, clothing, medical care, and funeral services for the elderly, handicapped, orphans, and widows) has been implemented. In 1995, there were a total of 2.415 million "Five Guarantees" people receiving relief from collectives and the money raised for this purpose was RMB 1.86 billion yuan. Great progress has also been registered in rural elderly social insurance. In 1995, this work was carried out in more than 1600 counties within 28 provinces and municipalities all over China. There were more than 51.428 million people (including TVE employees) participating in the old-age pension programmes. The network for rural social insurance has been expanded. By the end of 1995, the rural social insurance network had been established in 15,377 townships, being 33% of China's total townships. Over 63.2% of the townships had old-age homes and there were 197,000 disaster mitigation and prevention fund associations with a total accumulated capital of RMB 3.71 billion yuan.
- Improvement of rural sanitary conditions
By the end of 1995, the water purifying coverage rate had reached 86.7%. The accumulated benefiting population was nearly 800 million, and 49.8% of rural residents could use tap water. In 1991, the Chinese Government established a special fund for the building and reform of township clinics. In the past four years, the total investment volume of the completed projects reached RMB 6.79 billion yuan. By the end of 1996, there were 51,277 township clinics and 806,162 village clinics, which is 89.1% of the total administrated villages of China.
- The accelerating transformation of labour employment
Rural employment growth is an important symbol and the embodiment of rural social development. There are two major trends in China's rural employment: the increase of aquaculture and livestock-growing has decreased the number of labourers in agriculture; and the trend of rural labourers going to cities for work has made the non-agricultural employment increase by 10% every year. At present, China's employment structure is undergoing major transformations. The absolute size of the agricultural labour forces has clearly decreased. From 1992 to 1994, the agricultural labourers had decreased by 15.69 million. The total size of non-agricultural employment is approaching that of agricultural employment. The government has carried out the project of putting the trans-regional flow of rural surplus labour in order. The disordered movement of the surplus labour has begun to change. The flow of rural labourers has increased the income of rural families, promoted the development of the rural economy, and resulted in the improvement of people's living standards.
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