The Rural Voice, 1992-12, Page 38Travel
China makes use of
every inch to grow
food for a billion
For Canadian farmers, from
a land where over production of
food is the greatest problem,
it's hard to imagine a land
where there are 17 million new
mouths to feed each year and
where every spare piece of land
is turned into food production.
That's what we, a group of
Canadian in the Advanced
Agricultural Leadership
Program, found when we
visited China and Hong Kong
in March and April 1991.
We found that the need to feed this
burgeoning population of 1.2 billion
had brought reforms to the farming
population. Family farm operations
now have more control over their
small farms that average two to three
mu (.2 hectares), greatly increasing
productivity. The small farmers can
sell any amount of produce they grow
over and above the basic government
requirement, at "free markets" where
they can deal directly with
consumers. While the standard of
living for Chinese farmers is still far
behind Canadian farmers, there are
some farmers who have been able to
build new houses with the increased
income.
Still, it costs a week's salary to
buy a pound of meat for the average
Chinese and the yearly income for a
Chinese farmer is about $150 per
year.
China gives new meaning to the
term intensive farming. Terrace
farming is found throughout China as
farmers seek to put every available
34 THE RURAL VOICE
square inch of soil into production.
Forty-five per cent of China's
cultivated land is located in the
mountains.
We visited a farm with a com crop
growing on ridges with soybeans and
wheat rotated on the areas between
the ridges. Hand labour allows multi -
cultivation of 145 million hectares of
land. Millions of hectares of land
grow three crops every two years.
On a visit to a Chinese dairy farm
we saw 170 Holsteins being hand -
milked by 30 full-time employees
who milk three times a day. To west -
BY SHIRLEY HAZLITT
ern eyes this looked backward, but
China has its own unemployment
problem. Unlike Canada, China
doesn't have any unemployment
insurance or welfare. Labour-
intensive production methods are
both a reality and a necessity in
China's unique situation.
We saw a concerted effort toward
greater production efficiency, quality
Don Lewis of Holstein, one of the
AALP tour group looks at a wheat
crop grown between corn on ridges.
and quantity through technological
advancements such as improved
genetics and enhanced feeding
programs. One of the trade
opportunities that might exist for
Canada is the sale of better seed
varieties that would increase
production without driving up costs
or putting people out of work. It
would be financial folly for a country
with China's population to adopt
western mechanization. We came to
appreciate this approach and to be
envious of this manpower resource,
the one natural resource where China
has an advantage over Canada.
Transportation of food was rarely
seen during our stay, most of the food
being consumed in the area it is
produced. Storage of food is minimal.
At times huts with thatched roofs
were used as granaries.
We became more aware of the
importance of environmental
protection during our stay. We never