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The importance of agriculture to China
enviremental changes impact
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Chinese Rice Farming
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An ancient Chinese proverb reads, “Without rice, even the cleverest housewife cannot cook.” In a comical manner, this proverb illustrates an important point - rice serves an essential function to the people of China. As the pivotal mediator between the Chinese people and the rice they consume, the weather, climate, and environment has played an integral role in rice’s production and utility, as well as the importance it plays within the culture. Ironically, something so integral to Chinese society may not indeed be sustainable for the future.
Before discussing the important inter-dynamics between rice, people and the environment, it is necessary to briefly review the importance of rice in China. Rice is the staple food source of China, a country containing over 1.3 billion residents. Chinese officials report that the per capita energy intake of food is around 2,600 calories, where ¾ of their protein and 5/6 of their caloric intake come from grain – primarily rice.28 The government has gone to great lengths to feed their ever burgeoning population and it is a monumental undertaking. China produces 35% of the world’s total rice production, ranging from 171 million to 191 million metric tons annually over the past decade.29
Chinese mythology has expounded upon many of the critical elements that pertain to human existence: the division of the heavens and the earth, the creation of man, and the origins of rice. According to legend, rice’s origin is begins during the aftermath of a devastating storm thousands of years ago.30 The lands and rivers were flooded and food sources were scarce; every type of plant life was destroyed and no animals could be found. Seeing the hardships the...
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...the fields during the monsoons would be almost impossible, and highly expensive. Other proposed remedies have their own specific costs and benefits, but as of yet no comprehensive, realistic solution has been developed.37 Until this occurs, the situation in China, and the world at large, gets worse by the day.
At this point in time, there are no signs suggesting that China will abandon their “rice culture”, and weather and climate will both influence and be impacted by rice production for years to come. Scientific research is advancing by the day and we will eventually find a solution to this rice methane problem. Hopefully, this paper has been able to illustrate how important the dynamic relationship between rice, the weather and climate, and Chinese society, and how a subject that on surface may appear to be dull to some can be rather exciting and educational.
In Southern China, the Yangzi River provides transportation and irrigation throughout China. The Yangzi River, also referred to as “China’s blessing,” rarely floods and creates a warm, long growing season. The land around the river is lush and ideal conditions to grow vegetables, fruits, and grains. In contrast, the Yellow River of the North is essentially opposite. The river is often referred to as “China’s sorrow.” The weather is cold and dry and it leads to harsh seasons with drought, flooding, and frost.
In order to understand why China is in such environmental difficulties we need to understand why the lifestyles of people in Europe and the US could be to blame. The first area to consider is the environmental issues that China is currently suffering with. Once this is established I can assert what impact the US and Europe has in relation to these issues and what actually causes them. In linking the events it will be easier to see the chain of events. To do this I am going to work backwards and understand the issues that exist within China and then secondly what they are a result of. This will give me the background of why China’s environmental issues have become so dire.
There were numerous agricultural advancements in imperial China, and they all had huge impacts on society. The first impact was the introduction of a new type rice. The old rice was often destroyed due to the frequent droughts and violent storms, called typhoons. Also, the rice took 5 months to fully mature. The new rice was brought in the 11th century. It was drought resistant and took only 2 months to mature instead of 5. This had a huge impact on society because it allowed farmers to plant 2 crops a year instead of just one. This caused the rice business in China boomed. With the increased rice production, better farming techniques were developed. These included an improved plow and harrow which were used to plow and level the ground. This
In Japan, various birds and mammals have exhibited trends towards larger body size due to increasing food availability with regionally increasing temperatures. However, the major concern dealing with climate change is rice yields; they are projected to decrease up to 40% in irrigated lowland areas of central and southern Japan. The impact of rising temperatures on the world’s food supplies was a key issue for climate experts that met in Japan because a changing climate is one of a number of issues pushing Japan towards a food crisis. Dr. Raquel Moreno Panaranda, from the United Nations University in Yokohama said, “The whole food system is not secure at all.” Japan is working to counteract the effects of climate change, not only regionally, but also worldwide to ensure that a food crisis does not occur in the immediate future.
Rice is the staple food of many Asian and South Pacific countries. Rice is a major portion of these countries economic and agricultural systems. In places such as India, they used to eat brown rice, which is more nutritious because the outer bran layer is not removed during the milling process. When the British came to India they introduced white rice, which means the milling process has been taken to one further step. This reduces the amount of nutrients such as thiamine. White rice is now the major type of rice eaten in these Asian and Pacific countries. This has led to serious problems of malnutrition. Since normal rice does not have any beta-carotene, which is the precursor to Vitamin A, these populations are having vitamin a deficiencies. The World Health Organization stated that about 250 million people worldwide are at risk of permanent blindness, iron deficiency in women, and other serious ailments due to their lack of vitamin A. This genetically modified rice, known as “golden rice” has been created to meet the nutritional needs of these malnourished populations.
Around 2013, mining in the Gobi Desert had begun. The mine is named Oyu Tolgoi and is located in the southern part of the Gobi Desert (“Conserving the Gobi’s Most Precious Resource”). The Gobi Desert needed to be mined for farmers to receive water for crops and cattle. Droughts for farmers and herders are major issues because it resulted in their cattle dying. Farmers that live in the desert have turned small parts of the desert into farms and have collected groundwater as well (Sternberg 64). Thankfully for the Oyu Tolgoi, farmers and herders could receive the water they needed for their animals and cattle. Only problem is, cattle is an issue for the other cities that need water. The cattle slosh in the water and make it dirty (Ray). Many people that live near the Gobi Desert receive bad water from the mine. Some mining has resulted in pollution, which makes it difficult for the herder to fetch water for their cattle (Ray). “And in 2013, out of all the water used for production at Oyu Tolgoi, 84 per cent was reused” (“Conserving the Gobi’s Most Precious Resource”). Which is another reason why the water can sometimes become polluted (“Conserving the Gobi’s Most Precious
China has approximately 20% of the world’s population, which is around 1.3 billion people (Morris, 2009, p. 111). Also, China has become one of the worlds biggest manufacturing countries within 30 years (Fawssett, 2009, p. 27). However, such rapid development has come at a cost, which has created various environmental problems. Coincidentally, China has 16 cities on a list of the 20 worst polluted cities in the world (Fawssett, 2009, p. 15). Therefore, this essay will explain the reasons for China’s environmental problems, then evaluate the claim that the Chinese government and people, are tackling these environmental problems. First, crop farming techniques over the last hundred years, and their consequences will be explained. Followed by, how peoples choice in food has changed over the last hundred years, and how this indirectly affects the environment. Then, how a capitalist economy is linked to agriculture, and finally what the Chinese government and people are doing to tackle these problems.
...rtino, Z. Cai, D. Gwary, H. Janzen, P. Kumar, B. McCarl, S. Ogle, F. O’Mara, C. Rice, B. Scholes, O. Sirotenko (2007): Agriculture. In Climate Change 2007: Mitigation. Contribution of Working Group III to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [B. Metz, O.R. Davidson, P.R. Bosch, R. Dave, L.A. Meyer (eds)]. IPCC. [Online] p.499-532. Available from: http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar4/wg3/ar4-wg3-chapter8.pdf. [Accessed: 13th March 2014]
Rice by today’s standards is not an exciting food, but it is in fact one of the most important natural resources that humans have ever depended upon. Different cultures of people for thousands of years, spanning from India to China to Japan have used rice as their staple crop. Today especially, rice continues to be a vital grain for modern day human beings. Through this early dependency, rice became domesticated, which arguably is one of the most impactful events on the development of human agriculture and civilization. Rice now is farmed in different ways, including traditional, conventional and organic. Rice has become common processed food in supermarkets and one can easily find different foods that contain rice or its byproducts; through the increase in processing foods, rice has been transformed into an economic giant. With this higher demand for rice, scientists began to manipulate rice to become a higher yielding crop per acre, leading to the creation multiple hybrids of rice. This increase in hybridization led to what is now referred to as the Green Revolution. While rice is an incredibly important food nutritionally and economically, it has important non-food uses; current research has shown the possibility to use rice’s byproducts as an alternate source of fuel. With the present-day threat of global warming, this is an extremely important advance in green technology.
Rice is the second most harvested staple food in the world and the leading staple food in the Asian region. Rice can be contributed to food problems as well as poverty alleviation because millions of small farmers grow millions of hectares of rice in the Asian region and there are landless workers who generate some income by working on these farms. 60% of the global population and 90% of the world rice production is derived from the Asian continent (Geert Claessens).
Since the dawn of civilization, rice has served humans as a life-giving cereal in the humid regions of Asia and, to a lesser extent, in West Africa. Introduction of rice into Europe and the Americas has led to its increased use in human diets. In the eastern half of Asia, where 90 to 95 percent of the rice produced is locally consumed, the grain is the largest source of total food energy. In the year 2000, about 40 percent of the people on earth, mostly those in the populous, less-developed countries, depended on rice as the major energy source. The question, of course, is whether the rice-producing countries with ongoing technological developments can keep production levels ahead of population growth (Kiple and Ornelas)
This article sets a good example for researchers of more developed countries who study such indigenous cultures. Rather than trying to see which modern technology from the "outside world" will best help these cultures, Fujisaka attempts to learn from these cultures' traditional methods to help improve the farming industry. Fujisaka's study of rice farming in the Philippines is much like Lansing's study in Bali, in that both cultures rely heavily on rice farming and both cultures suffered much the same from the effects of the Green Revolution. Thus, finding what improvements need to be made and how, is an important task that could help many people.
It’s impossible for poor rural women and their communities to cope with the effects of climate change when both are perpetually in crisis mode. Their capacity to adapt must be strengthened. Compared to men in poor countries, women face additional cultural, social and economic barriers that make them more vulnerable to climate change. They have limited access to productive assets such as land, credit, and extension services, and they continue to lack voice and decision-making power on agriculture policies and programs. As a result, they are in many cases the first casualties of volatile climate conditions, falling into food insecurity and malnutrition. This reality demands a gender analysis toward climate change mitigation” (Hunger report 22) This being said, our increase in involvement improving women’s rights for education, ability to voice their opinions and breaking cultural norms that restrict them will result in less stress as well as more food. This will break the cycle of poverty. Educating women agriculturally will benefit them and increase their involvement in growing and cultivating produce, which will lead to them selling what they make and gives in increase in their home’s
Rice is inevitably an important staple food crop supporting half of the world population. Rice cultivation has gained importance worldwide not only as a source of dietary constituents, but also play a major role in socio economic development, providing food security, poverty alleviation, employment, sustainable development and maintenance of cultural heritage etc., (Nguyen and Ferrero, 2006). It is also a favorable model crop plant among cereals for genetic improvement studies and functional genomics due to its small genome size and availability of full genome sequence. The main concern over rice cultivation is the increasing demand over supply while there is remarkable depletion in cultivable land area. Many challenges lie ahead of cultivars to achieve the required target/need in coming years and rice diseases are among one of the major challenges.
Agriculture is considered to be one of the most vulnerable sectors to climate change. Although at present, the overall impact of climate change on global scale agricultural productivity is not reliably estimated (Gornall et al., 2010). Many studies show serious implications on agricultural productivity for instance IFPRI(2009) projects that in South Asia by 2050 climate change will reduce production of rice, wheat and maize by 14%, 44% to 49% and 9%-19% respectively relative to no climate change situation. Historical temperature yield relationship indicates that at the global scale warming from 1981-2002 very likely offset some of the yield gains from technology advances, rising CO2 and other non climatic factors (Lobell and Field, 2007).