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 China
Famous quotes containing the word production:
“The problem of culture is seldom grasped correctly. The goal of a culture is not the greatest possible happiness of a people, nor is it the unhindered development of all their talents; instead, culture shows itself in the correct proportion of these developments. Its aim points beyond earthly happiness: the production of great works is the aim of culture.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)
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—François, Duc De La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680)
“The growing of food and the growing of children are both vital to the family’s survival.... Who would dare make the judgment that holding your youngest baby on your lap is less important than weeding a few more yards in the maize field? Yet this is the judgment our society makes constantly. Production of autos, canned soup, advertising copy is important. Housework—cleaning, feeding, and caring—is unimportant.”
—Debbie Taylor (20th century)