Agriculture in China

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A. Plan of Investigation
The investigation will attempt to answer the question, “To what extent did Chinese agricultural reforms between 1978 and 1982 enable the success of the four modernizations?” Research will primarily be gathered on the nature of these reforms, how they compared to the agriculture policy of Mao during the Great Leap Forward and how Deng’s reforms enabled the possibility of economic growth and reform in the private sectors of China. Primary source such as official statistics of agricultural production kept in villages will be analyzed to determine the impact of overall government policy in villages and other agricultural centers. Other secondary sources will also analyze the overall effect that these agricultural reforms created in China. The impact of these policies would be analyzed to find a connection with increased economic production and economic reform in other sectors of the economy under Deng Xiaoping in later years.

B. Summary of Evidence
During the Mao era, agriculture was seen as an inferior part of development. Mao based his economic system off of the Soviet Union’s economic policy in the 1950s, which focused on the development and growth of industry (Huang, 17). During the period of Mao’s rule, lack of incentives and absence of markets constrained increases in agricultural output (Brandt 469). The majority of agricultural production was centered on food to sustain China’s growing population. However, most citizens were still unable to obtain food security and barely consumed 2,300 Calories a day (Brandt 471).
In addition to this, agricultural policy under Mao broke the link between rural and urban economies. It established an agricultural sector that was isolated from the urban economy. Th...

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...culture." American Journal of Agricultural Economics 73 (May 1991): 266-75. JSTOR.

Howe, Christopher, Y. Y. Kueh, and Robert F. Ash. China's Economic Reform: A Study with Documents. London: RoutledgeCurzon, 2003.

Huang, Yiping. Agricultural Reform in China: Getting Institutions Right. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1998.

Kalirajan, K. P., M. B. Obwona, and S. Zhao. "A Decomposition of Total Factor Productivity Growth: The Case of Chinese Agricultural Growth before and after Reforms." American Journal of Agricultural Economics 98 (May 1996): 331-38. JSTOR.

"Marketing Reforms, Market Development and Agricultural Production in China." Agricultural Economics 17 (December 1997): 95-114.

Kau, Michael Y. China in the Era of Deng Xiaoping: A Decade of Reform. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 1993.

Moise, Edwin E. Modern China. LONDON: Longman, 1994.

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