Agricultural Resources of China, by Dr. T. H. Shen, 425 Pages, 21 maps, frontispiece, tables, US$5.00, Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York, 1951.
Both the actual and the potential productive of the farmlands of China are discussed in this first comprehensive account of China's agricultural economy.
Dr. Shen has firsthand knowledge of the situation and the problem as it existed in China before the General Government of China moved to Taiwan in 1949. Educated in China and in the United States, Dr. Shen taught plant breeding in the University of Nanking, held the post of Director of the National Agricultural Research Bureau of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of the Chinese National Government and served in many official capacities, the most recent of which is that of China's delegate to the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization Conference in 1950. During the course of his career he has written many articles and bulletins on agricultural subjects; Agricultural Resources of China is, however, the first book-length work that he has found time to write.
In China where, as Dr. Shen points out, the farm products raised by three persons are only sufficient for one additional person the most urgent problem is necessarily one of raising man-power productivity. To achieve this goal the problem must be attacked from many angles simultaneously; otherwise, the improvement in one line will be hampered by lack of improvement in others. Dr. Shen outlines the areas in which reforms are most urgently needed under three main headings.
IMPROVEMENT OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION. This topic includes discussion of such needs as expansion of the area under cultivation (currently estimated at about ten per cent of China's total area); improvement of irrigation and flood control; adequate supply of fertilizers (it is estimated that replacement of mineral elements in depleted soils can increase crop production by 25 per cent in some cases); finding better crop varieties and better animal breeds; control of animal and plant diseases; improvement of fisheries; and reforestation of China's immense denuded areas.
MARKETING AND ASSOCIATED PROBLEMS. Antiquated methods of marketing and primitive methods of, or total absence of, processing and warehousing facilities have hampered China's rural economy and cramped the development of the foreign trade which she sorely needs. Dr. Shen suggests remedies for these crippling lacks and urges the necessity for establishing standards of quality for agricultural products, eliminating widespread adulteration and waste, and adopting some uniform system of weights and measures throughout China.
LAND REFORM. This issue is one which has provided one of the most potent of the Communist levers for arousing the Chinese. The reforms that Dr. Shen outlines, however, would gradually eliminate the evils of the land tenure system without social dislocation. He would limit the amount of farmland that one man could own, and he would reduce rents. In addition, he would establish credit cooperatives where tenant farmers could borrow money at reasonable rates of interest for purchasing land, supplies, and equipment. One of the worst features of the present system, as he outlines it, is the fact that usurers - both landlords and merchants - lend farmers money at high rates of interest and in turn the farmers agree to sell their crops to these moneylenders at very low prices. As a result the farmers are in a perpetual economic bondage.
Dr. Shen stresses also the vital need for widespread and well-coordinated system of agricultural education and extension, and he urges the co-operative ownership of farm equipment for maximum use.
CHINA'S AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS. Dr. Shen takes the reader on a tour China, pointing out the crops that are raised in each region, outlining the importance of each crop in China's total economy, and describing the particular problems and needs of the farmers who specialize in the different types of farming. (Gardening, Dr. Shen says, might be a more descriptive term for Chinese farming, as 61 per cent of the farms contain less than 3.29 acres.)
The principle crops of China, described in the book, are:
| Wheat | Sugar | Tobacco |
| Rice | Soybeans | Livestock and Poultry |
| Corn | Rapeseed | Fish |
| Kaoliang | Peanuts | Cotton |
| Barley | Tung Oil | Ramie |
| Sweet and Irish Potatoes | Sesame Seed | Jute |
| Fruits | Cottonseed | Hemp |
| Vegetables | Tea | Silk |
Agricultural Resources of China will be of major interest to those whose concern is the problems facing this vast area. The book gives a picture of that part of China's economy that is by far the most vital to her and clarifies the problems that to a large extent underlie her political upheavals..
No one who considers himself competent in the field of Asiatic affairs can afford to by-pass this unique contribution to an understanding of China.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Foreword. Preface. Tables. Introduction. I. Physiography. II. Biological Factors. III. Water Resources Influencing Agriculture. IV. Socioeconomic Factors. V. Land Utilization. VI. Food Consumption. VII. Principal Food Crops. VIII. Supplementary Food Crops. IX. Oil Crops. X. Tea and Tobacco. XI. Livestock and Poultry. XII. Fisheries. XIII. Textile Fibers. XIV. Forests. XV. Foreign Trade in Agricultural Commodities. XVI. Agricultural Research, Education, and Extension. XVII. Better Utilization of Agricultural Resources. Appendix. Tables. Index.
***EDITOR'S NOTE:
The above is a report from the Cornell University Press Bulletin. This authoritative book on China's rural economy by Dr. Shen Tsung-han, Member of the China-United States Joint Commission on Rural Reconstruction, has won wide acclaim in the United States as incorporating painstaking academic researches and sound, practical suggestions for reform in a comprehensive volume. The opinions of some experts are quoted below:
"Having spent eleven years in the Far East, I deeply appreciate this valuable book furnishing the best agricultural information available on China." — Fred J, Rossiter, Associate Director, Office of Foreign Agricultural Relations, U. S. Department of Agriculture.
"It is a very valuable contribution to those interested in agricultural production". — H. P, Cooper, Dean and Director of the Clemson Agricultural College and South Carolina Experiment Station.
"The work … will be recognized as the authoritative source of information in its field for many years to come." — J. B. Davidson, Professor of Agricultural Engineering, Iowa State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts.
"This work of Dr. Shen ... is mainly what the title indicates: facts concerning China's agricultural resources from the natural and biological factors, through land utilization and into crops. He adds short discussions of related socio-economic and commercial factors... Useful for research." — Howard P. Linton, Librarian, East Asiatic Library, Columbia University.