September 2013
Agriculture: Fixing The Farms
What is the future of farming in China? Thirty years ago, when more than 800m people lived rural lives, most farms were run by households and operated at a subsistence level. Since then, the rural population has fallen to around 630m and the number of farmers has shrunk to about 250m. Today most households earn more income from non-agricultural jobs or via remittances from family members working in the city than they do from farming. Yet China’s rural sector is one of the world’s most productive, despite having just 8% of the world’s farmland and 6% of its renewable water resources.
That is a tremendous achievement, but further reform to China’s agricultural sector is needed. Most farms remain small and adoption of modern agricultural practices is patchy. Encouraging the development of larger and more commercially viable farms will help China create a modern industry. This means expanding the role of agribusinesses, but it also means facilitating the growth and technical sophistication of smaller farms – vital for developing a pool of workers with the skills and experience to staff larger operations. Crucially, this process will benefit from further clarification of household land-use rights and the creation of fair and reliable mechanisms to settle contract disputes.
Also in this issue:
- Yukon Huang and Clare Lynch argue that China’s growth is unbalanced – but in a good way
- Bill Stacey suggests that China can still avoid financial crisis, but only if it relies on better capital allocation rather than sheer liquidity as a security blanket
- Tom Miller wonders why many consumer goods in China, from luxury items to ordinary high-street brands, cost more than they do in rich countries
- Andrew Batson finds some useful pointers to China’s future in a book about Korea