Production
In its first fifty years, the People's Republic of China greatly increased agricultural production through organizational and technological improvements.
| Crop | 1949 Output (tons) | 1978 Output (tons) | 1999 Output (tons) | |
| 1. | Grain | 113,180,000 | 304,770,000 | 508,390,000 |
| 2. | Cotton | 444,000 | 2,167,000 | 3,831,000 |
| 3. | Oil-bearing crops | 2,564,000 | 5,218,000 | 26,012,000 |
| 4. | Sugarcane | 2,642,000 | 21,116,000 | 74,700,000 |
| 5. | Sugarbeet | 191,000 | 2,702,000 | 8,640,000 |
| 6. | Flue-cured tobacco | 43,000 | 1,052,000 | 2,185,000 |
| 7. | Tea | 41,000 | 268,000 | 676,000 |
| 8. | Fruit | 1,200,000 | 6,570,000 | 62,376,000 |
| 9. | Meat | 2,200,000 | 8,563,000 | 59,609,000 |
| 10. | Aquatic products | 450,000 | 4,660,000 | 41,220,000 |
However, since 2000 the depletion of China's main aquifers has led to an overall decrease in grain production, turning China into a net importer. The trend of Chinese dependence on imported food is expected to accelerate as the water shortage worsens. However desalination plants find few customers because it is still cheaper to over-utilize rivers, lakes and aquifers, even as these are depleted.
Today, China is both the world's largest producer and consumer of agricultural products. However, the researcher Lin Erda has stated a projected fall of possibly 14% to 23% by 2050 due to water shortages and other impacts by climate change; China has increased the budget for agriculture by 20% in 2009, and continues to support energy efficiency measures, renewable technology, and other efforts with investments, such as the over 30% green component of the $586bn fiscal stimulus package announced in November 2008.
Read more about this topic: Agriculture In The People's Republic Of China
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