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China Importance of Agriculture Recognized
Faced with this depression, the country's leaders initiated
policies to strengthen the agricultural sector. The government
increased incentives for individual and collective production,
decentralized certain management functions, and expanded the role
of private plots and markets. The people's commune system was
reorganized so that production teams with 20 to 30 households and
90 to 140 people owned most of the assets, accounted for profits or
losses, made economic decisions, and distributed income. Most
important, the leadership embarked on policies designed to put
"agriculture first" in planning, at least in principle. This meant
more modern inputs for the countryside. Chemical fertilizer
production and imports increased. Modern high-yielding seed
varieties began to be developed. Irrigation facilities--many of
which had been washed out during disastrous floods in 1959-61--were
repaired and expanded, and the government began to provide more
mechanical pumps and other irrigation equipment.
These improvements were not haphazard; most were focused on
more advanced and productive areas. The intent was to build areas
of modernized agriculture with high and stable yields that would
form the basis for more stable agricultural production. In general,
the places designated as "high- and stable-yield areas" were those
with adequate irrigation and drainage, so that the payoff for
greater use of fertilizer and new seeds would be higher.
Data as of July 1987
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