Agriculture of China

According to official data, China in the late 20th century had about 95 million hectares of cultivated land. Often three or more crops are harvested from a single cultivated plot in two years, and two crops are harvested every year in the Yangtze River Basin. In the regions of South China, in three fields, three crops per year are harvested in the main crops and up to five vegetable crops. The agriculture of China was formed due to its vast territory and diverse climatic conditions. More than 50 different field crops are grown on the territory of the country, more than 80 kinds of garden and almost 60 kinds of garden.

Breeding of cattle, sheep, horses and goats is carried out in the mountainous areas of western China, as well as in the vast steppes of Tibet and the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. In the oases of the desert regions of Xinjiang, watermelons and grapes are grown. In the cold northern provinces of Heilongjiang and Jilin, high-mechanized cultivation of maize, wheat and soybeans is carried out. In northern China, where chronic shortage of water is experienced, drought-resistant crops are grown, such as corn, wheat and millet. In the North China Plain, cultivated land brings two crops of grains, oilseeds and tobacco a year.

Agriculture in China has the most productive in terms of gross agricultural output: Sichuan Province, the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and the subtropical province of Guangdong. Here the norm is to get several crops a year, irrigation is widely used and fertilizers are applied. The provinces of Sichuan, Hunan and Jiangsu are the largest rice producers in the country . In the provinces of Guangxi and Guangdong, most of the sugar cane is cultivated. And in sub-tropical areas, China's agriculture produces, mainly for export, oranges, mandarins, pineapples and lichs.

Labor resources in China's agriculture play almost the most important role. Land as a result of the privatization program was divided into communes between families and its processing is carried out on the basis of a family contract. First, the land was leased for 1-3 years, but then a long-term ownership system (50 years or more) was introduced. The Chinese government has carried out a number of adjustments to the purchase prices for grain and meat, this has become a stimulating factor that has helped to significantly increase labor productivity. By the end of the 20th century, China's agriculture produced about 500 million tons of grain, including 185 million tons of rice. Among food crops in second place in value is wheat. And in the collection of corn (more than 100 million tons per year), the country occupies second place in the world after the United States.

Describing different types of agriculture in China, it should be noted that the country is one of the world's largest suppliers of many varieties of tea. In addition, millet, oats, kaolians, rye, buckwheat are grown, sweet potatoes and potatoes from root crops, soybeans from legumes. An important place among technical crops belongs to cotton. Under its cultivation is allocated 40% of the area occupied by technical crops. Flax, hemp and jute are also grown. Tobacco is collected in the largest volumes in the world. Among oilseeds, sesame, peanuts and sunflower are the leaders. Cultivated sugar beet and sugar cane. Pineapples, citrus fruits, bananas, apples, mangoes, pears and others are grown from fruit. Animal husbandry in China used to be of secondary importance, but now it began to develop at an accelerated pace. Also, for already 4000 years in China, sericulture is practiced.

Despite the success of China's agriculture, it can not cope with the large population growth of the country. According to specialists' forecasts, in the 21st century the need for imported grain will amount to 55 to 175 million tons annually.