Challenges and Opportunities for

Chinese Agriculture: Feeding Many

While Protecting the Environment 1st
ed. Edition Wensheng Chen
Visit to download the full and correct content document:
https://ebookmass.com/product/challenges-and-opportunities-for-chinese-agriculture-f
eeding-many-while-protecting-the-environment-1st-ed-edition-wensheng-chen/
CHINA AND GLOBALIZATION 2.0

Challenges and Opportunities

for Chinese Agriculture
Feeding Many While Protecting
the Environment

Wensheng Chen
Translated by
Guofeng Zheng
China and Globalization 2.0

Series Editor
Bai Gao
Department of Sociology
Duke University
Chapel Hill, NC, USA
China is now at the forefront of globalization, particularly with the One
Belt, One Road policy. What does a Chinese globalization look like,
though? This series will explore the distinct legacies and evolutions of
China’s worldview, even as China exports its development model to coun-
tries around the world.

More information about this series at

http://www.palgrave.com/gp/series/15881
 Wensheng Chen

Challenges and
Opportunities for
Chinese Agriculture
Feeding Many While Protecting the Environment
Wensheng Chen
Institute of Rural Development Research
Changsha, Hunan, China

Translated by
Guofeng Zheng
East China University of Science and Technology
Shanghai, China

Published with the financial support of the Chinese Fund for the Humanities and
Social Sciences

ISSN 2523-7209     ISSN 2523-7217 (electronic)

China and Globalization 2.0
ISBN 978-981-15-3535-2    ISBN 978-981-15-3536-9 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-3536-9

© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer
Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the
Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of
translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on
microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval,
electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now
known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this
publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are
exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information
in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the pub-
lisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the
material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The
publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and
institutional affiliations.

This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature
Singapore Pte Ltd.
The registered company address is: 152 Beach Road, #21-­01/04 Gateway East, Singapore
189721, Singapore
 Prologue I

Since the 16th National Congress of the Communist Party of China

(CPC), the Party Central Committee has put forth to the whole Party the
task of solving the issues related to “agriculture, farmers, and rural areas”.
The Committee successively issued 11 斜体: No. 1 Central Documents
with the theme of “agriculture, farmers, and rural areas”, and imple-
mented a series of unprecedented policies to benefit and enrich farmers.
By abolishing agriculture tax, subsidizing farmers directly, reforming sys-
tems such as the grain distribution system, collective forest rights system,
and rural finance system, and promoting urban and rural development,
major reforms have greatly stimulated farmers and improved the condition
of agriculture and rural areas.
In terms of grain production increase, China has witnessed a continu-
ous increase over 11 consecutive years. The annual grain output increased
from 861.4 billion jin (1 jin≈500 g) in 2003 to 1124.2 billion jin in
2014. The average annual increase in grain production in the 11 years is
320 billion jin. Food production can continue to grow for more than a
decade, which is rare in China and the world as the whole. Income for
farmers has also maintained relatively a rapid growth for 11 consecutive
years. The annual per capita net income of rural residents increased from
¥2262 in 2003 to around ¥9800 in 2014, with an average annual increase
of more than ¥650 in 11 years. Furthermore, the increase margin of farm-
ers’ income has been higher than that of urban residents for five years.
These achievements show that China’s agricultural and rural development
has continued to improve, and in doing so the CPC’s rural policy has won
the support of the farmers. Because of increased farmers’ income, improved

v
vi PROLOGUE I

grain production, and the development of the infrastructure of rural areas,

social undertakings have entered the fastest period in Chinese history.
At the moment, China’s agriculture is on its way to a new stage and
faces a new situation. First, the number of imports of major farm products
continues to increase. The main farm products production in China con-
tinues to increase, as well as the varieties and quantities of imported farm
products. The six major farm products, grain, cotton, oilseeds, sugar,
milk, and meat, need to be imported. In 2013, China imported more than
84 million tons of grain for the first time, while all grain exports only
reached 2.43 million tons. Second, the international competitiveness of
agricultural product prices has declined. The prices of farm products at
home and abroad are undergoing significant changes and the domestic
prices of most bulk farm products have exceeded the international market
prices. The wholesale prices of domestic cereals are ¥0.2–0.4 higher than
the international market price. Likewise, the prices of farm products, such
as soybeans, rapeseed, cotton, sugar, and meat, are also generally higher
than the international market prices, which has become an important rea-
son for the continuous growth of China’s agriculture imports. Third, the
impact of WTO rules on agriculture has increased. At the very beginning
of China’s entry into the WTO, China promised quotas on import tariffs
for some important farm products. This provided an important guarantee
for China’s agriculture to maintain stable development after China joined
the WTO. However, as domestic agricultural product prices continue to
rise and surpass the prices of farm products on the international market,
high-tariff barriers other than quotas may be gradually broken down.
Once the prices of domestic farm products reach the “ceiling” of high
tariffs, international farm products will enter the domestic market on a
larger scale, which will affect the development of China’s agriculture
industry, including farmer employment, food security, and economic secu-
rity. Fourth, profound changes have taken place in the rural economy and
social development. In the process of industrialization and urbanization, a
large number of rural laborers continuously move to cities and towns.
Consequently, since 2010, the wage growth rate of migrant workers has
been declining, indicating that the macro-economic trend as well as the
changes in the structure of the secondary and tertiary industries of the city
have a relatively obvious impact on the transfer of farmers’ employment.
How this situation will change in the future and what impact will be
exerted on rural economic and social development require further research.
Fifth, the agriculture income of farmers is challenged. At present, the cost
 PROLOGUE I vii

of agriculture input is increasing rapidly, and it is becoming more and

more difficult for farmers to increase their income through grain produc-
tion and operation. In line with this, the income structure of farmers has
also undergone significant changes. In 2013, for the per capita net income
of farmers, wage income exceeded their income from household business
operation for the first time. At the same time, the income from plantation
accounted for less than a quarter of the per capita net income of farmers,
which indicates that policies are becoming less effective in generating
incentives among farmers to grow crops.
Based on the new situation and new changes, the development of agri-
culture in China is facing a series of unprecedented challenges. First, it
faces the pressure of international and domestic agricultural product price
inversion. On the one hand, the prices of major domestic farm products
are already higher than those of farm products on the international mar-
ket; on the other hand, farmers are still not satisfied with the current prices
of farm products. From the perspective of agricultural product prices, if we
raise the prices of domestic farm products, it means that China will further
open its doors to the international market, which will in turn create new
pressures on domestic agricultural development. Second, it faces the chal-
lenge of rising agricultural production costs. At present, China’s agricul-
tural production costs are rising at a fast rate, especially the annual growth
rate of production-oriented service expenditures, which has gone from 8%
to 9%. This has driven the cost of farm products to rise and has become a
realistic challenge for the development of agriculture. Third, the agricul-
ture support protection system faces new challenges. According to the
agreement upon the accession to the WTO, the subsidy standard for
China’s agriculture micro-licensing is 8.5%. Yet, the current subsidies for
some important farm products have reached or exceeded this standard.
While withstanding the pressure from developed countries such as the
United States to accelerate the opening of China’s farm products market,
it is an urgent issue to further increase support for agriculture and con-
tinue to maintain the growth of agriculture investment in the context of
slowing economic growth. Fourth, it is hard for the present agriculture
eco-environment to comply with the current agricultural production
methods. In terms of the growth of grain production, China’s agricultural
development has indeed realized great achievements, but it has also paid a
huge environmental cost. The challenges and pressures of the agro-eco-­
environment are unprecedented, with soil and water pollution caused by
chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and plastic films becoming more and more
viii PROLOGUE I

serious in addition to industrial pollution, atmospheric pollution, and so

on. Fifth, agro-sci-tech is not strong. Although China’s agro-sci-tech is at
the forefront of the world in some areas such as hybrid rice breeding, it
still lags behind developed countries in many agriculture research fields
and agro-technology applications. If this situation is not changed, it will
be difficult to alter the passive status of China’s agriculture in international
community. Sixth, the degree of organization and marketization of agri-
cultural production is relatively low. Although the situation is gradually
changing under the impetus of reform, it still faces many logistical
problems.
While China is the most populous country in the world, and it is also a
country with a weak agriculture foundation, which means that it is very
difficult to build modern agriculture. Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the
CPC Central Committee, clearly pointed out that “We must realize that
agriculture is still a weak spot of ‘synchronization of four modernizations’,
and the countryside is still a weak link for building a well-off society in an
all-round way. To make China strong, agriculture must be strong; to make
China beautiful, rural areas must be beautiful; to make China rich, farmers
must be rich”. Furthermore, when inspecting Fujian Province, Xi stressed
that “the building of a well-off society in all-round ways cannot be real-
ized without the rural areas”, and explicitly demanded that the country
“try to tap new potentials in improving grain production capacity, open up
new channels in optimizing agriculture structure, seek new breakthroughs
in the way of transforming the development of agriculture, make new
achievements in increasing farmers’ incomes, and take new steps in build-
ing new countryside”. This is the overall requirement for rural reform and
development in the coming period.
The acceleration of China’s agricultural modernization is a significant
issue of the era. In the new development stage and the new domestic and
international development environment, the basic functions of agriculture
have undergone major changes, and agricultural development will trans-
form from a single goal to a myriad of goals. Therefore, the transforma-
tion of agricultural development of a populous country under the
constraints of resources and environment requires new strategic concepts
and strategic initiatives. Researcher Wensheng Chen incorporates the
transformation of China’s agricultural development into “A resource-con-
serving, environmentally friendly society (resource and ecologically sound
society)”. The construction and big picture of the coordinated develop-
ment of industrialization, informatization, urbanization, and agricultural
 PROLOGUE I ix

modernization highlights Chinese characteristics and the main line of

“resource and ecologically sound” in this book.
This book focuses on the research on issues like changing multiple
goals, intrinsic motivation, methods of realization, and support systems of
China’s agricultural development mode under the constraints of resources
and environment. It also explores effective ways to transform China’s agri-
cultural development mode, such as the transformation of resource ele-
ment usage driven by agricultural innovation in sci-tech, the transformation
of the agricultural production system with “the resource and ecologically
sound agriculture” as the orientation, the transformation of the agricul-
ture socialization service system with the rural informatization as the
breakthrough, and the transformation of an agricultural development
mode motivated by the agriculture system. This book proposes a theoreti-
cal framework with “resource and ecologically sound agriculture” as the
strategic orientation, scientific and technological innovation as the first
driving force, informatization of rural areas as the breakthrough, and agri-
cultural system innovation as the guarantee to transform China’s agricul-
tural development mode in the construction of a “resource and ecologically
sound society”. This theoretical research is achieved based on a deep
understanding of trend changes in modern agricultural development both
at home and abroad, as well as time requirements. Numerous theoretically
innovative points as well as practical countermeasures targeting reform
and development of China’s current agriculture have been brought for-
ward throughout the book, which will provide useful inspirations for all
parties involved in and concerned with China’s agricultural development,
and will play a positive role in promoting the reform and development of
China’s agriculture and rural areas.

Xiwen Chen1

1
Xiwen Chen, Deputy Head of the CPC Central Leading Group for Rural Work, Director
of the Office.
 Prologue II

The Chinese economy completed its leap of the Lewis transition zone
from 2004 to 2010, which is a milestone in China’s economic develop-
ment. After a country’s economy leaps across the Lewis turning point, the
labor marginal productivity of agriculture is no longer zero, and the rela-
tive scarcity of capital and labor as well as the relative price relationship will
have fundamental changes. This change is manifested in agricultural pro-
duction as the economic phenomenon of the substitution of labor by capi-
tal, leading to the start of a decrease of the marginal rate of return of
capital. In the constant production function, the decrease of capital returns
means the country’s economic growth declines. However, if the produc-
tion function changes, it can still maintain a relatively high economic
growth rate, and indeed to change the production function is to change
the growth mode of the economy. Under the constraint of the inevitable
return on capital, increasing labor productivity is the key to maintaining
the return on investment. In general, there are many ways to increase
labor productivity, including replacing labor with machines, improving
the proficiency of workers, adopting more efficient technologies and
crafts, and improving the efficiency of the allocation of production factors.
With the large outflow of rural labor from the agricultural fields, the
resource endowment structure of agricultural production changes, leading
to mutual replacement and further reversal among agricultural production
elements. The organization method of the substitution of capital by labor
in traditional agricultural production has gradually been replaced by the
substitution of labor by capital, thus forming an advancement of induced
technology development. However, in the process of agricultural

xi
xii PROLOGUE II

production, if the capital inflow does not expand along with the corre-
sponding expansion of production scale, the substitution of labor by capi-
tal will lead to a waste of resources in the production process. Farmer
households are the basic agricultural production units formed in the rural
economic reform more than 30 years ago. Farmer households obtained
equal rights to cultivate land from village collectives through a contract by
means of rural resident rights. The land lease contract stipulates the rights
and responsibilities between a farmer household, village collectives, and
countries, and thus establishes an agricultural production system based on
small farmer households. However, with the development of industrializa-
tion and urbanization, the labor force continues to flow out of households
that have productive capability, which leads to the gradual degradation of
the productive capacity of farmer households. At the same time, by shar-
ing the results of industrialization, laborers entering the non-agricultural
field obtain higher rewards than in the agricultural field, resulting in par-
tial capital flowing into rural and agriculture fields. On the one hand, the
outflow of labor causes a decline in production capacity of farmer house-
holds. On the other hand, capital flows from urban and non-agriculture
fields into rural areas, which reduces the opportunity cost of capital use,
and thereby stimulates the enthusiasm of farmer households to purchase
agricultural machinery, pesticides, herbicides, and other agricultural
investment resources. The existing research shows that under the condi-
tion of unchanged agricultural production scale, the biggest impact on the
income elasticity of crop production is the cash input of production. The
substitution of labor by capital in the agricultural production of out-of-
town households is higher than those who do not have out-of-town labor.
The labor loss caused by labor migration and the increase of non-agricul-
ture income levels will encourage farmers to carry out extensive operations
on agriculture. The inflow of remittances can help farmers use more pro-
duction factors such as pesticides and fertilizers, thus increasing the pos-
sibility of pollution in agricultural production. Some scholars have found
that although farmer households whose family members go out to work
can purchase more and more advanced means of production, the inflow of
remittances has led to “slack” behavior of other family members.
Industrialization and urbanization put forward internal requirements for
agricultural modernization. The pollution of agricultural production and
the waste of resources are contained in the unbalanced organization of its
factor allocation.
 PROLOGUE II xiii

As a sizeable portion of China’s labor force exits agriculture, the expan-

sion of agricultural production scale has been constrained by the existing
farmland property rights, resulting in high cost of rural land circulation,
greater uncertainty, and relatively low efficiency of agriculture. This has
led to a gradual outflow of the capable, knowledgeable, and energetic
labor force from the agriculture field, and thus the current agricultural
labor force is older and there are more female laborers. This labor struc-
ture in the agricultural production is not conducive to the development of
agriculture, especially the expansion of farm products and the usage of
new technologies, new varieties, and new means of production. Therefore,
a gradual decline of farmer households as the basic unit of agricultural
production leads to agricultural extensive management and agricultural
production efficiency that cannot be advanced, and the recession of agri-
culture and rural areas will be inevitable. To change the mode of agricul-
tural production, we must first change the agricultural production
organization; cultivate and develop new agricultural production organiza-
tions, such as family farms, large family farming businesses, and agriculture
cooperatives; and create leading enterprises of agriculture industrialization
and agriculture socialized service organizations, thus forming a new agri-
cultural production service system. Large-scale agricultural production
can reduce non-point sources pollution and point pollution of agriculture
and improve the traceability of farm products. In the actual production,
the adoption of agro-technology has a critical point. When farmer house-
holds operate on a small scale, it is difficult for them to adopt new tech-
nologies according to economic and rational principles, or even to use
“scale technology” alone. Once farmer households realize large-scale
operation of agricultural production, the unit treatment cost of agricul-
tural non-point sources pollution will be reduced.
Practice has shown that only by implementing land circulation can we
achieve concentrated land and expand the scale of agriculture operations.
In terms of problems such as decentralized management of rural land and
low economies of scale, cultivating the rural land market and promoting
the circulation of rural land are considered to be the inevitable choices for
realizing China’s farming operations on an appropriately large scale, pro-
moting the adoption of agro-technology, and improving the efficiency of
farmland resource allocation and agricultural labor productivity. Through
the farmland circulation market, fragmented plots will be concentrated in
the hands of large family farming businesses, and a large-scale operation
will be realized. This will not only increase farmers’ income, but also the
xiv PROLOGUE II

efficiency of farmland, and will ensure that the income of large family
farming businesses is on the same planting scale as that of urban residents.
After the implementation of land circulation and large-scale operation,
social division of labor and specialized production have naturally expanded,
forming a series of specialized production bases, which have laid the foun-
dation for increasing investment in sci-tech, standardized production, eco-
logical production, and agricultural marketization. In practice, we found
that with the expansion of the scale of agriculture operations, farmers’
demand for fertilization technology, improved crop varieties, cultivation
techniques, and use of agricultural machinery increased. The greater the
scale of agricultural production and operation, the higher the demand for
agro-technology information, and the more controllable the sources of
pollution will be, such as chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and plastic films.
It can be seen that the scale operation of agriculture implies the develop-
ment trend of “resource and ecologically sound”.
Professor Wensheng Chen, who grew up in local communities, is the
chief editor of the Journal of Chinese Rural Discovery, a brand magazine
for issues related to “agriculture, rural areas, and farmers”. Challenges and
Opportunities for Chinese Agriculture is the outcome of “The Research of
the Transformation of Agricultural Development Model in the
Construction of ‘Resource and Ecologically Sound Society’”, a post-
funded project by the National Social Science Fund of China. Based on
the relevant theoretical research and practice of agricultural development
mode in China and abroad, the book focuses on the development of
China’s agriculture in the construction of a “resource and ecologically
sound society” based on the characteristics of agricultural resources and
environment, as well as multiple goals of developmental transformation of
Chinese agriculture under the constraints of resources and environment.
It also focuses on the research of agro-scientific and technological innova-
tion as the core power to accelerate the transformation of resource utiliza-
tion methods, and building an agricultural production system oriented by
the “resource and ecologically sound agriculture” so as to accelerate the
transformation of the agriculture socialization service system by using
rural informatization as a breakthrough. As a method of accelerating the
institutional innovation of agriculture, “resource and ecologically sound”
development is used to guarantee the accelerated transformation of an
agricultural development mode. The book is intended to explore the the-
ory and practice of accelerating the transformation of China’s agricultural
development mode with multiple goals, providing strategic direction of
 PROLOGUE II xv

agricultural development transformation of a populous country under the

constraints of resources and environment, and the potential path and insti-
tutional guarantee so as to construct a new agricultural modernization
model suitable for China under the guidance of the “resource and ecologi-
cally sound society”. But this is different from western industrialized agri-
culture, and many innovative viewpoints and solutions for exploring the
theoretical study of agricultural development are put forward in this work,
providing valuable references for the decision-making and practice of agri-
cultural development.

Fang Cai1

1
Fang Cai, Member of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Vice President.
 Contents

1 Prolegomenon  1
1 Research Questions  1
2 Main Questions and Content 11

2 Agricultural Development Mode: Relevant Theoretical

Research at Home and Abroad 17
1 The Neoclassical Production Functions and Agricultural
Development Mode: Theoretical Basis and Its Consequences
for the Development of Traditional Agriculture 19
2 The Transformation of Agricultural Development Mode:
Investigation Based on Classic Occidental Economics and
the Neoclassical Economics 26
3 The Farmland System and the Transformation of
Agricultural Development Mode Based on the Perspective of
New Institutional Economics 34
4 “Resource and Ecologically Sound Society” and the
Transformation of Agricultural Development Mode Based
on the Review of Development Economics 43
5 The New Stage of the Development of Modern Agriculture:
The Domestic Resource and Ecologically Sound Agricultural
Practice and the Latest Development of World Agriculture 55
6 The Transformation of Agricultural Development Mode in
the Construction of “Resource and Ecologically Sound
Society”: The Current Limitations and Future Orientation 64

xvii
xviii CONTENTS

3 The Transformation of China’s Agricultural Development

with Multiple Goals Under Resource and Environmental
Constraints 69
1 The Status Quo of China’s Agricultural Development under
Resource and Environmental Constraints 69
2 The Construction of “Resource and Ecologically Sound
Society” Requires a Transformation in Agricultural
Development 81
3 The Strategic Direction for the Transformation of China’s
Agricultural Development: “Resource and Ecologically
Sound Agriculture” 90
4 Multiple Objectives of Agricultural Development
Transformation in the Construction of “Resource and
Ecologically Sound Society”110

4 The Transformation of the Utilization Mode of Elements

and Resources with the Agro-­scientific and Technological
Innovations at the Core125
1 Innovation of Agro-sci-tech and the Transformation of
Agricultural Development Mode126
2 Labor-Saving Technological Innovations, Human Resource
Development, and Improvement of Labor Productivity134
3 Resource-Conserving Technological Innovations and the
Improvement of Resource Utilization Rate and Land
Output Rate158
4 Technological Innovations of Agro-­environmental
Protection, Conservation of Factors of Production, and
Sustainable Agricultural Development166

5 The Transformation of Agricultural Production System in

Line with “Resource and Ecologically Sound Agriculture”183
1 The Construction of “Resource and Ecologically Sound
Agriculture” Industrial System184
2 Constructing the Agriculture Standardization Production
System with a Focus on Guaranteeing Agricultural
Products’ Quality at the Core192
3 Constructing the System of Agricultural Non-­Point Sources
Pollution Prevention and Control System with Preserving
the Eco-­environment at Its Core210
 CONTENTS xix

4 Constructing the System of Disaster Prevention and

Mitigation with Constructing Irrigation and Water
Conservancy at Its Core230
5 Constructing the System of Biological Species Resources
Protection with Protecting of Biological Germplasm
Resources at Its Core252
6 Constructing the System of “Resource and Ecologically
Sound Agriculture” Comprehensive Evaluation and the
Analysis of Hunan Province266
7 The Empirical Study of “Resource and Ecologically Sound
Agriculture” Development in Chinese “Resource and
Ecologically Sound Society” Experimentation Area with an
Example from Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan City Cluster301
8 The Empirical Study of a Big Agricultural Province’s
Output Quality and Safety with an Example from Hunan
Province323

6 The Transformation of Commercialized Rural Service

System with Taking Agricultural Informatization as a
Breakthrough341
1 Agricultural Informatization Is the Inevitable Choice of the
Transition to Commercialized Rural Service System341
2 The Choice of Agricultural Informatization Service Mode
in the Construction of “Resource and Ecologically Sound
Society”350
3 The System of Informatization-Oriented Sci-­tech Services for
the Commercialization of Agricultural Scientific and
Technological Research361
4 The System of Informatization-Oriented Production on the
Basis of the “Resource and Ecologically Sound”
Transformation of Agricultural Production374
5 The System of Informatization-Oriented Circulation Service
on the Basis of the Farm Products Circulation with High
Efficiency385
6 An Empirical Study of Demonstration Province of Chinese
Rural and Agricultural Informatization with an Example
from Hunan Province397
xx CONTENTS

7 The Institutional Innovation of the “Resource and

Ecologically Sound” Transformation of Agriculture419
1 The Transformation of the Functions of Government and
the Transformation of Agricultural Development Mode419
2 The Institutional Innovation of the Development of Rural
Human Resources Aimed at Cultivating the New Farmers429
3 The Institutional Innovation of Land Circulation Will
Take Efficient Use and Land Resources Protection into
Account438
4 Constructing the System of the National Scientific and
Technological Innovation Facing the Frontier of the
Development of the World Agriculture454
5 Constructing the Financial Support System Featuring
Resource Conservation and Environmental Protection464
6 Innovating and Perfecting Rural Finance Mechanism and
Rural Finance Service System472
7 Constructing the Institutional System of “Resource and
Ecologically Sound Agriculture”-Oriented Eco-­
Environmental Management and Protection480
8 Building a System of Government Oversight for
Agricultural Product Quality and Introducing Official
Food Processing Guidelines494
9 Accelerating the Innovation of Rural Social Management
to Promote “Resource and Ecologically Sound”
Transformation of Agriculture500

Bibliography511
 List of Figures

Fig. 3.1 China’s grain output (1975–2001) 71

Fig. 3.2 China’s annual grain output and import 73
Fig. 3.3 Changes of farmland acreage in China (2001–2012) 76
Fig. 4.1 China’s total agricultural machinery and agricultural
employment from 1990 to 2010 144
Fig. 4.2 China’s agricultural comprehensive mechanization tendency
and the number of employees in the primary industry from
1990 to 2010 144
Fig. 4.3 China’s agricultural mechanization, gross agricultural output
value, and agricultural added value from 1990 to 2010 148
Fig. 4.4 Rural technological innovations of environmental protection
route with production factor conservation at the core 172
Fig. 4.5 Farmland ecology recycling system 181
Fig. 5.1 The framework of standardization production system of
agriculture focusing on agricultural products quality 201
Fig. 5.2 Agricultural standardization production system structure 205
Fig. 5.3 National changes in the total amount of fertilizers and
pesticides applied (1991–2010) 213
Fig. 5.4 Changes in the total amount of fertilizers and pesticides applied
in Hunan Province (2002–2010) 214
Fig. 5.5 The system structure of biological species resources protection
with protecting biological germplasm resources at its core 256
Fig. 5.6 The trend of total evaluation index of “resource and
ecologically sound agriculture” construction in Hunan Province 298
Fig. 6.1 The overall framework for the construction of the
demonstration province of Chinese rural and agricultural
informatization in Hunan 401

xxi
 List of Tables

Table 3.1 2001–2010 China’s water resources and usage 78

Table 3.2 Comparison between “resource and ecologically sound
agriculture” and low-carbon, ecological, and circular
agriculture104
Table 4.1 Agricultural mechanization level and employment of
agricultural labor force from 1990 to 2010 143
Table 4.2 Agricultural mechanization level and agricultural labor
productivity from 1990 to 2010 147
Table 4.3 Rural labor force quality and agricultural labor productivity
from 1990 to 2010 153
Table 5.1 Estimation of chemical fertilizer application and loss of TN in
China and Hunan Province 216
Table 5.2 Conversion of TN, TP, and COD emission factors of main
livestock and poultry 216
Table 5.3 Estimation of TN, TP, and COD loss in livestock and poultry
breeding in China and Hunan Province (2010) 217
Table 5.4 Inputs and outputs of agricultural factors in Hunan Province
over the years 2002–2010 220
Table 5.5 Production function regression coefficient and statistical
test results 221
Table 5.6 Distribution areas and hazard forms of major agricultural
meteorological disasters in China 236
Table 5.7 Evaluation index system for disaster prevention and
mitigation capacity with constructing irrigation and water
conservancy at its core 244
Table 5.8 “Resource and ecologically sound agriculture” evaluation
index system 271

xxiii
xxiv LIST OF TABLES

Table 5.9 Regional “resource and ecologically sound” agricultural

development index evaluation system 279
Table 5.10 Score of economic development evaluation 287
Table 5.11 Score of social progress evaluation 288
Table 5.12 Score of resource conservation evaluation 289
Table 5.13 Score of eco-environmental protection evaluation 290
Table 5.14 Evaluation weights of regional “resource and ecologically
sound” agricultural development indicators 292
Table 5.15 Annual values of indexes for the development of “resource
and ecologically sound agriculture” in Hunan Province
(2002–2010)295
Table 5.16 Evaluation indexes of each criterion layer of “resource and
ecologically sound agriculture” evaluation system in Hunan
Province (2002–2010) 299
Table 5.17 Comparison of resources and environment between the
reform pilot areas of “resource and ecologically sound
society” in Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan city cluster and
other regions 303
Table 5.18 Comparison of human resources conditions between reform
pilot area of “resource and ecologically sound society” in
Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan city cluster and other regions
(2011)304
Table 5.19 Comparison of agricultural economic developments between
Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan city cluster and other regions 305
Table 5.20 Comparison of agro-technology levels between Changsha-
Zhuzhou-Xiangtan city cluster and other regions 306
 CHAPTER 1

Prolegomenon

1   Research Questions

Given that China has to feed over 20% of the world’s population with just
7% of the world’s farmland, agricultural development is strategically
important in China. In the global context of frequent extreme weather,
volatile swings of grain and energy prices, and financial crisis rippling
across the world, China’s future will be decided by how it addresses the
challenges of increasing resource and environmental constraints, the rising
costs of agricultural production, the migration of rural labor force, envi-
ronmental contamination, and ecological degradation to promote the
transformation of the agricultural growth model1.
In the process of modernization, China’s agricultural development is
unique, as no other country has ever exerted such long-term influence on
the whole national economy, or prioritized national development strate-
gies in the long term. Domestically, though agriculture accounts for an
increasingly lower proportion of GDP and increases in farmers’ income
rely more on non-agricultural sectors—multiple functions of agricultural
production such as ecological conservation, environmental conditioning,
bio-based energy, tourism and recreation, and cultural continuity would
be put in the foreground—its strategic roles of helping people with life

1
Zhu, Youzhi, Chen, Wensheng. National Food Safety Must Address New Challenges in
the New Era [N], Guangming Daily, 05-25-2013.

© The Author(s) 2020 1

W. Chen, Challenges and Opportunities for Chinese
Agriculture, China and Globalization 2.0,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-3536-9_1
2 W. CHEN

quality, building up a strong economy, and increasing international com-

petitiveness have not changed.2 Internationally, more than 1.5 billion
people live on only $1 per day with more than half of that being spent on
food.3 The potential food crisis caused by possible soaring grain prices will
not only induce international financial turbulence and social crises in
countries and regions but also reduce millions to hunger. In fact, agricul-
tural development mode and food security have become a big picture issue
concerning national and even global economic security and social stability.
As food, oil, and currency constitute weapons to restrict other countries in
the international community, agriculture, with increasingly outstanding
strategic roles, has grown into an essential core competence for a country
to compete economically.
The past 30 years of reform and opening-up have witnessed China’s
entry into the middle stage of industrialization and rapid urbanization,
and China finds itself positioned for the optimum development through-
out history. China’s Household Responsibility System in rural areas has
unprecedentedly released the vigor of agricultural development, which has
made China leap historically from an era of food shortage to a new one of
subsistence shared by over a billion people and of all-round moderate
prosperity. From 2004 to 2006, the agricultural tax was successively
rescinded nationwide, a great milestone marked in agricultural history by
putting an end to the practice of farmers paying grain tax to government
which had persisted for over two thousand years. It also shed light on the
issue of agricultural tax—the toughest of the issues related to “agriculture,
farmers, and rural areas” that has remain unresolved for thousands of
years. Since the beginning of the twenty-first century, especially after
2003, agricultural development has been stymied by multiple factors:
growing pressure and constraints of resources and environment, complex
changes in domestic and foreign economies, and frequent outbreaks of
natural disasters. Yet, it is worth mentioning that for the first time China’s
grain output increased for 11 consecutive years since 1949, from 861.4
billion Jin in 2003 to 1124.2 billion Jin in 2012, representing an average

2
Chen, Wensheng. The Transformation of National Economy Must Start from
Breakthroughs in Agriculture, Rural Areas and Farmers [N], Guangming Daily, July
13, 2010.
3
Patel, Raj. Stuffed and Starved: Markets, Power and the Hidden Battle for the World Food
System [M], (Trans.) Guo, Guoxi and Cheng Jianfeng, Beijing: Oriental Press, 2008.
 1 PROLEGOMENON 3

annual growth of 35 billion Jin. And farmers’ income realized “Nine

Successive Fast Increases”, from ¥2662 in 2003 to ¥7917 in 2012, grow-
ing at the fastest pace with an average annual growth of over ¥540.4 Taking
a review of the history of world agriculture, we will find that among major
agricultural giants, only the United States and India achieved five-­
consecutive-­year increases respectively from 1975 to 1979 and from 1966
to 1970. What we have achieved in agricultural development in recent
decades, both by historical and contemporary standards, set up a “Chinese
benchmark” for the world.5 This is a notable achievement, and it lays a
solid foundation for modernization and enables China’s agriculture to
begin a new course of development.
We should also be mindful of the unprecedented challenges this mission
faces. First, as China’s population is increasing steadily, the existing pattern
of agricultural development is faced with the grim challenge of meeting the
excessive demand for farm produce. Despite nine consecutive years of good
harvest, China is importing more and more food from other countries. Data
shows that in 2011 China imported as much as one tenth of total domestic
output, including about a third of world soybean exports. The global popu-
lation is forecast to swell to 9.3 billion, demanding another 680 million tons
of grain, while China’s population will increase to 1.5 billion, which is more
than the number of people in all developed countries combined. Seven hun-
dred and eighty million tons of grain will be required, as well as 120 million
tons of meat.6 Second, as farmland and water resources diminish in quantity
and decline in quality, the present developing mode is confronted with
tighter constraints on resource-based factors. As an unchanged national
condition, the per capita agricultural resources of China are far fewer than
the world average. The essential four agricultural resources, forest cover,
share of freshwater, territory, and cropland, account for 26%, 33%, 36%,
and 40% of the world average, and per capita agricultural resources are

4
Data sources: Xu, Lianzhong. “Nine Successive Increases” in Grain Yield and Prices [J],
Seeking Knowledge, 2001 (3); Farmers’ Income Growth Rate Surpasses That of Urban
Residents Again [N], Farmers’ Daily, January 21, 2013.
5
Nine Successive Increases in Grain Yield Sets Up a Chinese Benchmark for the World
[N], People’s Daily (Overseas Edition), December 3, 2012.
6
Chen, Xiwen. China Must Have a Global Vison in Addressing Food Issues (A Speech
Made on 2012 China Agricultural Development Forum at China Agricultural University)
[J], Journal of Chinese Rural Discovery, 2012 (4).
4 W. CHEN

declining.7 Third, with globalization, industrialization, and urbanization

being advanced, the current development mode is faced with challenges
related to essential resources and increasing pressure from domestic and
foreign markets. On the one hand, with the accelerating process of China’s
industrialization and urbanization, competition is growing fiercer between
rural areas and cities, as well as between agriculture and industry for farm-
land and water resources. On the other hand, low labor productivity severely
affects international competitiveness.
In 2008, the yield of cereal, rice, and wheat per unit area reached the
standards of developed countries and the yield of maize reached the level
of moderately developed countries. During this period, China’s agricul-
tural labor productivity was only about 47% of the world average, about
2% of the average of developed countries, and only 1% of the average of
America and Japan, ranking No. 91 in the world8. In the meantime, the
“four agricultural giants” of international agricultural companies have
gained control over 80% of the world grain trade and 70% of rapeseed
trade through strengthening their deployment of the whole industry chain
in raw materials, logistics, trade, processing, and sales.9 As international
companies are strengthening monopolization of farm products and mate-
rials, China is facing increasingly unfavorable competition with developed
countries. Fourth, as resource-based agricultural development causes eco-
logical problems such as resource destruction, environmental pollution,
water loss, soil erosion, and desertification, the existing pattern faces chal-
lenges from ecological degradation and safety concerns surrounding farm
products. Research shows that China is responsible for 30% of the world’s
consumption of chemical fertilizers in recent years. The pesticide and fer-
tilizer per unit area rates are 1.4 to 2 times higher than those of developed
countries and the rates of utilization of pesticide and fertilizer are less than
half, only 30% and 40% respectively. Moreover, every year 40% (about 50
tons) of vestigial agricultural films are left in the soil, and the effective
utilization rate of water in agriculture throughout the country is only 40%
at present, far below developed countries at 70–80%.10

7
He, Chuanqi. China Modernization Report 2012: A Study of Agricultural Modernization
[M], Beijing: Peking University Press, 2012.
8
Ibid.
9
Cheng, Guoqiang, Entry into WTO and China’s Agricultural Development: China’s
Agricultural Globalization in the Past 10 Years [N], China Economic Times, November 23, 2011.
10
Jiang, Changyun, Accelerate the Transformation of Agricultural Development Mode
[J], China Development Observation, 2012 (5).
 1 PROLEGOMENON 5

Plastic pollution has become a major problem in rural areas. Many

green mountains and bodies of water in the past have suffered desertifica-
tion and pollution. While some rivers frequently flood, other rivers have
simply dried up. All of these issues have a direct link with the destruction
of the rural eco-environment. Therefore, the current agricultural develop-
ment model contributes toward deterioration in the agricultural develop-
ment environment and declining agricultural product quality. It also
further endangers the health of citizens as well as the continued develop-
ment of the national economy.
Every era has its own issues, and it is believed that, once they are solved,
human society will advance. Global warming and resource exhaustion
have brought severe challenges to the survival and development of human
beings. The construction of a resource-conserving and eco-friendly soci-
ety (“resource and ecologically sound society”) has become a central topic
in world economic and social development. It is an issue that every coun-
try in the world strives to solve, and represents the common ideals and
shared mission that no country can disregard. The fifth Plenum of the
16th CPC Central Committee explicitly proposed to construct “a
resource-conserving, environmentally friendly society”, and first inte-
grated it into one of the strategic tasks for China’s national economic and
social development in the medium- and long-term plans.11 It was elevated
to an unprecedented height in The Twelfth Five-Year Plan for National
Economic and Social Development. It was also put into practice and pro-
moted worldwide as models by the State Council. Several cities were cho-
sen by the State Council, such as Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan city cluster
and Wuhan city cluster, to be the reform pilot area for building a “resource
and ecologically sound society” by the 17th National Congress of the
CPC. In the meantime, The Rise of the Central Area Planning, approved
by the State Council in 2009, listed six cities in China’s central region,
including Hubei and Hunan Provinces, as the most important grain pro-
duction bases in the country and as critical areas for national food security.
The 5th Plenary Session of the 17th CPC Central Committee has pointed
out that China will take “resource and ecologically sound society” as an
important support for accelerating the transformation of the economic
development mode, further shedding light on its requirements, approaches,

11
Suggestions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Formulating
the Eleventh Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development [M], Beijing:
People’s Publishing House, 2005.
6 W. CHEN

and countermeasures.12 Experience over the past few years in Hunan

Province proves that a “resource and ecologically sound society” is an
innovative and inevitable choice for the government to accelerate the
transformation of the development mode and the process of China’s eco-
nomic and social society in an all-round, coordinated, and sustainable way.
In 2011, China issued The Twelfth Five-Year Plan for Economic and Social
Development, which serves as a guide for accelerating the development
mode of economic transformation and a milestone from demonstration
promotion to an all-round advance in constructing a “resource and eco-
logically sound society”.
The 17th CPC National Congress proposed that “the transformation
of economic development mode” should be regarded as a significant stra-
tegic deployment, and also explicitly stated that the transformation of the
agricultural development mode should be considered an important task in
transforming the economic development mode, as well as an area of
importance and challenge for national economic transformation. The
Third Session of the 17th CPC Central Committee noted that “…we
should focus on accelerating the transformation of agricultural growth
mode and building up an agricultural produce system featuring resource-­
conserving and environmentally friendliness which should be basically
accomplished by 2020”.13
The report of the 18th CPC National Congress further stated, “We must
give high priority to making ecological progress and incorporate it into all
aspects and the whole process of advancing economic, political, cultural,
and social progress, work hard to build a beautiful country, and achieve
lasting and sustainable development of China”.14 Moreover, this was the
first time the construction of ecological civilization was treated as a prior-
ity. The report also explicitly stated that the ultimate goal of the construc-
tion of a “resource and ecologically sound society” and realizing green,
low-carbon, and recycling development is to build a beautiful China. As
the ecological function of agriculture is more and more stressed, accelerat-
ing the transformation of the agricultural development mode and realizing
sustainable agricultural development will inevitably become an important
12
Outline of the Twelfth Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development of
the People’s Republic of China [N], People’s Daily, March 17, 2011.
13
The Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Major Issues
Concerning Rural Reform and Development [M], Beijing: People’s Publishing House, 2008.
14
March Unswervingly along the Path of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics and Strive
for Building a Well-off Society in an All-round Way [N], People’s Daily, November 18, 2012.
 1 PROLEGOMENON 7

part of the construction of ecological civilization.15 The spirit, principles,

and policies of the CPC Central Committee defined the contemporary
content of agricultural development in the new era of China, and pointed
out the strategic direction for the transformation of the mode of agricul-
tural development.

1.1  A New Approach to the Transformation of Agricultural

Development in a Populous Country
Under the guidance of building a “resource and ecologically sound soci-
ety”, China’s agricultural development must not only ensure the effective
supply of farm products and realize the major strategy of national food
security, it must at the same time ensure the accomplishment of multiple
strategic goals to ensure the sustainable development of the national econ-
omy, for example food quality and safety, eco-environmental protection,
resource conservation, and farmers’ income increases. Therefore, it is nec-
essary to analyze property development, functional improvement, and the
enhancement of effects of agriculture in the broader context of interna-
tional and domestic development, and to evaluate the roles of resource
endowment, material foundation, talent support, system guarantee, and
the contribution of sci-tech as it plays out in China’s agricultural develop-
ment. This is the initial condition for discussing the transformation of the
agricultural mode by using historic vision and global perspective: to ana-
lyze a series of interwoven issues such as industrialization, urbanization,
internationalization, and a populous nation; to analyze the transformation
of the agricultural development mode concerning the transformation of
other agricultural development mode; to examine farmers’ income and
employment in terms of internal factors; to embrace the transformation of
agricultural development in a “resource and ecologically sound society” as
a strategy to enhance global competitiveness; and to strengthen the impor-
tant function of agriculture as the root of national survival and economic
growth in a populous country. This is undoubtedly an important historical
issue with far-reaching influence in China’s agricultural development
history.

15
The Compilation of Documents of the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of
China [M], Beijing: People’s Publishing House, 2012.
8 W. CHEN

1.2  A New Direction of Chinese Agricultural Modernization

Under Environmental Constraints
As a dynamic process, agricultural modernization refers to a change in
agricultural development since the eighteenth century. As the goals and
tasks of different historical periods are different, patterns and development
mode also vary. People usually regard western “petrified agriculture” in
history as the direction of agricultural modernization. From the current
perspective, the development mode of western agriculture deriving from
previous modern industrial technologies is producing an increasingly sig-
nificant negative effect: this development mode features “high investment,
high energy consumption, high pollution and low output” and it further
poses a threat to resources and environment as well as human health. This
mode lacks sustainability, and requires a new way of thinking and a new
mode of agricultural development. Therefore, the explicit purpose of
building a new agricultural development mode under the guidance of a
“resource and ecologically sound society” is definitely a turn away from
“petrified agriculture”. However, this does not necessarily constitute a
return to slash-and-burn agriculture. Different from industrialized agri-
culture, which gives economic development and GDP as well as overnight
wealth top priority, “resource and ecologically sound” agriculture, as a
new type of modern agriculture, is people-oriented, focusing on human
well-being, and harmonious agricultural development between humans
and nature. Its ultimate goal is to promote coordinated development
between humankind and nature. As a new agricultural development mode
featuring “low input, low energy consumption, low pollution and high
output”, it not only draws inspiration from traditional agriculture but also
overcomes the limits of Chinese traditional agriculture with the aid of
modern technology and the strength of western industrialized agriculture.
It organically integrates traditional Chinese agriculture with modern west-
ern industrialized agriculture and is furthermore an improvement of both
as a new peak in a new historical period. This is not only an innovative
exploration of the theory and practice of agricultural modernization with
Chinese characteristics, but also novel content endowed with a “resource
and ecologically sound society”, as well as a new direction for the develop-
ment of China’s agriculture.
 1 PROLEGOMENON 9

1.3  New Strategies for China’s Agriculture to Cope

with the International Game of “Carbon Politics”
and “Carbon Economy”
As global warming and energy depletion pose pronounced challenges to the
survival and development of mankind, the international community have
already taken relevant measures and actions. From the twists and turns of
the “Kyoto Protocol” coming into effect to the formal introduction of the
carbon cap, trading system, and carbon tariffs further issued by the EU
countries, climate change has become a tool in the new round of competi-
tion in terms of industry, economic growth, and technology. The United
States claims to have become a country that is leading the development of
clean energy; the European Union will exert pressure and address climate
change as an important foreign policy; developing countries are not only
affected by climate change but also need to continuously increase their
energy consumption, which will mean facing enormous pressure from
resources and environment; and island countries worry about climate
change leading to rising sea levels, and have therefore called for countries to
set more stringent emission reduction targets. In the process of preventing
climate change, there are political and economic games among countries.
Climate negotiations will play an important role in future international
trade. “Carbon politics” and “carbon economy” will become important
themes of development strategies for all countries in the world.
Although modern industry is the main culprit in climate change, the
western industrial agriculture pattern has also played a role. In addition to
relying heavily on depleting oil, large amounts of greenhouse gases
released by the global agriculture, which exceeds 30% of the total anthro-
pogenic greenhouse gas emissions, equivalent to 15 billion tons of carbon
dioxide, has become a major culprit in global warming.16 China is the larg-
est carbon emitter in the world. In 2009, the Chinese government offi-
cially announced its goal of controlling greenhouse gas emissions by 2020,
and for the national carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP to drop by
40% to 45% of the 2005 rate.17 The “Twelfth Five-Year Plan” proposes a
series of obligatory targets such as “the proportion of non-fossil fuels in

16
Gao, Fusheng, “Low-Carbon” Is Significant for “Mode Transformation” in Agriculture
[N], China Special Native Product, May 12, 2010.
17
Zhu, Jianhong, China’s Set Target for Controlling Greenhouse Gas Emissions: China
Takes an Active Role in Coping with Climate Changes [N], People’s Daily, November
27, 2009.
10 W. CHEN

primary energy consumption should reach 11.4%; energy consumption

per unit of GDP should be reduced by 17%”.18 As a global agriculture
giant, it is imperative for China to transform its agricultural resource utili-
zation mode from extensive to intensive and clean-oriented and to take
“resource and ecologically sound agriculture” as its strategic direction to
transform its agricultural development mode so as to comply with the
international commitment, and shoulder the responsibility of major pow-
ers. Not only is this an emission reduction measure of far-reaching signifi-
cance, it could also enhance China’s national security by improving
resource utilization rates and reducing dependence on foreign resources
so as to seize the strategic opportunities and take the pole position of
future agricultural development, formulating a new strategy in the games
of international “carbon politics” and “carbon economy”.

1.4  The Sinicization of Agricultural Economics

and Development Economics
In light of the major problems that have emerged in the course of China’s
economic development, it is clear that it is usually western economics that
provides corresponding theoretical frameworks and analytical tools. However,
China and western countries, from which economics originates, are different
in national conditions and require different policy supports. Therefore, there
is an urgent need to go beyond the limits of the western industrialization
mindset and modernization theory to seek answers for agricultural develop-
ment. At the threshold of building a “resource and ecologically sound soci-
ety” in China and considering the agriculture-­ related resources and
environmental characteristics, we have to work hard to reach a balance among
the targets in transforming China’s agriculture under environmental con-
straints. Motivated essentially by agro-scientific and technological innova-
tions, the transformation of the utilization patterns of resource will be
accelerated and a “resource and ecologically sound agriculture”-oriented pro-
duction system will be established. After this, the rural social service system is
to be transformed by the rural informatization breakthrough. These institu-
tional innovations in “resource and ecologically sound” agricultural develop-
ment will ensure the transformation of the agricultural development mode
and reveal effective ways to transform traditional Chinese agriculture.

18
Outline of the Twelfth Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development of
the People’s Republic of China [M], Beijing: People’s Publishing House, 2011.
 1 PROLEGOMENON 11

2   Main Questions and Content

Due to the late start of agricultural modernization in China, the con-
straints of capital, technology, information and industry, the scarcity of
resources, the increasingly severe environmental constraints, and the real-
istic context of the rapid rise of international climate politics, there are five
questions that urgently need to be answered in relation to the transforma-
tion of the Chinese agricultural development mode in the construction of
a “two oriented society”. 1. In the construction of a “resource and eco-
logically sound society”, what is the inherent link between the construc-
tion of a “resource and ecologically sound society” and the agricultural
development mode? 2. What are the connotations, directions, and goals of
the transformation of China’s agricultural development mode and how to
accelerate the transformation of China’s agricultural development mode
in constructing a “resource and ecologically sound society”? 3. What is the
inner motivation of China’s agricultural development in constructing a
“resource and ecologically sound society”? 4. What is the fundamental
way to achieve the transformation of “resource and ecologically sound”
agricultural development? 5. What kind of institutional support is needed
to transform China’s agricultural development mode in the construction
of a “resource and ecologically sound society” and how to promote insti-
tutional innovations in the transformation of China’s agricultural develop-
ment mode?
To answer these questions, we first need to figure out the direction and
objectives of agricultural development in the construction of a “resource
and ecologically sound society” in theory. Second, we need to delineate
the actual path to achieving these goals in practice. Third, to achieve these
goals, we need to carry out institutional innovations. The answers to the
above five questions constitute the logical thinking of this study: multiple
objectives → ways to achieve → institutional innovations. This is also the
framework of this book.
In the target system, because the transformation of agricultural devel-
opment is by no means merely an issue of economic development, the
theory of economics alone cannot satisfactorily answer this question. This
book, therefore, first starts from the perspective of multidisciplinary inte-
gration and takes the development of China’s agricultural resource and
environmental pressure, the strategic position of agriculture in the sustain-
able development of the national economy, and the multi-functionality of
12 W. CHEN

modern agriculture as the starting point to present the multiple goals of

the development and transformation of China’s “resource and ecologi-
cally sound agriculture”.
In terms of realization path, questions of how to increase farm prod-
ucts, efficiency, quality, safety, and ecological function must be addressed
to accelerate the transformation of the agricultural development mode.
The book responds in three respects: the ways resources are used, the shift
in agricultural production systems, and the transformation of the social
service system for agriculture. Among them, the transformation of using
essential resources can solve the problem of how to increase agricultural
labor productivity, land productivity, and resource utilization to increase
production and efficiency. The core of transformation lies in agro-­scientific
and technological innovations. The transformation of the agricultural pro-
duction system and commercialized rural service system is the path to
achieve high quality, safety, and ecology. The answers to these three ques-
tions form the main part of this book. Finally, in order to achieve the
above goals, it is also necessary to establish a guarantee mechanism to
achieve institutional innovations.
Based on this and against the background of accelerating urban—rural
integration in China according to the overall objective of building a
“resource and ecologically sound society”, this book incorporates the trans-
formation of agricultural development into the construction of a “resource
and ecologically sound society”, and the coordinated development of indus-
trialization, urbanization, and agricultural modernization. On the basis of
the updated changes and requirements of the development of modern agri-
culture at home and abroad, we give priority to Chinese characteristics and
a “resource and ecologically sound society” following the sequence of
“multiple goals → achieving approaches → institutional innovations”, focus-
ing on the multiple targets in transforming the Chinese agricultural devel-
opment mode, inner motivations, approaches, and supporting systems
under environmental and resource constraints. Based on the experience of
“resource and ecologically sound society” reform pilot areas in Changsha-
Zhuzhou-Xiangtan city cluster and Demonstration Province of Chinese
Rural and Agricultural Informatization in Hunan Province, we aim to
achieve the goals of national food security, resource conservation, rural eco-
environment governance and protection, farm products quality and safety,
farmers’ income and agricultural efficiency, and the sustainable development
of the national economy. We take the essential resources of agricultural
development, production system, social services, and accelerating the
 1 PROLEGOMENON 13

transformation of the industrial system as the core of research, exploring

effective ways to transform the mode of agricultural development in China.
These include the accelerated transformation of the utilization patterns of
resources motivated by agro-scientific and technological innovations,
“resource and ecologically sound agriculture”-oriented agricultural produc-
tion system transformation, the transformation of the commercialized rural
service system with rural informatization as the breakthrough, and the
transformation of government functions in agriculture powered by agricul-
tural institutional innovations. Thus we will build a theoretical framework
for transforming the agricultural development mode in the construction of
a “resource and ecologically sound society”, taking “resource and ecologi-
cally sound agriculture” as the strategic direction, scientific and technologi-
cal innovations as the major propeller, rural informatization as the
breakthrough, and agricultural institutional innovations as the guarantee. It
will be suitable for the specific Chinese situation, but different from that of
western countries so as to surpass the historical development norms of west-
ern industrialized agriculture and directly enter the new stage of modern
agricultural development—“resource and ecologically sound” agriculture.
The main content of the book is as follows.

2.1  The Multiple Targets of China’s Agricultural Development

Transformation under Resource and Environmental Constraints
Starting from the multiple targets of China’s agricultural development
transformation under resource and environmental constraints, this book
focuses on core issues such as the status quo and trends of resource and
environmental constraints in China’s agricultural development, the multiple
target composition and structure of agricultural development in China, and
the multi-targeted agricultural transformation decision-­making under the
constraints of resources and environment. This book analyzes the construc-
tion of a “resource and ecologically sound society” and the transformation
of agricultural development, puts forth the strategic direction of China’s
agricultural development mode transformation under the constraints of
resources and environment, and explores the multiple targets of China’s
agricultural development and transformation. These targets are as follows:
under the precondition of ensuring food safety in a populous nation, it is
necessary to realize the transformation of national economy, speed up the
integration of urban and rural development, guarantee farm products qual-
ity, promote resource conservation and eco-­friendliness, increase farmers’
income, and improve agricultural efficiency.
14 W. CHEN

2.2  The Transformation of the Utilization Mode of Resources

with Agro-Scientific and Technological Innovations at the Core
This book puts forward the basic proposition that agro-scientific and tech-
nological innovations are the endogenous impetus to speed up the trans-
formation of agricultural development in the process of building a
“resource and ecologically sound society”. Furthermore, this book ana-
lyzes the demand and development direction of agro-scientific and tech-
nological innovations under the constraints of resources and environment,
and discusses expediting the importance of scientific and technological
innovations to improve the contribution rate of agro-technological prog-
ress. It also touches on speeding up agricultural labor-saving technological
innovations, optimizing the allocation of human capital and improving
labor productivity, accelerating agricultural resource-conserving techno-
logical innovations, improving land productivity and resource utilization,
and accelerating rural technological innovations of environmental protec-
tions so as to promote resource conservation and sustainable agricultural
development.

2.3  “Resource and Ecologically Sound Agriculture”-Oriented

Agricultural Production System Transformation
The “resource and ecologically sound” agricultural production system,
standardized agricultural production system, agricultural non-point
sources pollution prevention and control system, disaster prevention and
mitigation system, and species resource protection system are to be con-
structed in line with the requirements of a “resource and ecologically
sound society” construction, and accelerating the transformation of an
economic development mode targeted at high production, good quality,
high efficiency, ecological protection, and safety. In order to realize quan-
titative comparison of different regions and different periods, we must
enhance the practical operation of policies and the evaluation of develop-
ment. For this, we establish an evaluation index system for the develop-
ment of “resource and ecologically sound agriculture” and conduct
empirical research.
 1 PROLEGOMENON 15

2.4  The Transformation of Commercialized Rural Service

Systems with Rural Informatization as a Breakthrough
From the perspective of the interaction between informatization and com-
mercialized rural service systems, this book analyzes the impact and decon-
structive effect of informatization on the traditional rural social service
system and explores the realization mechanisms for China’s rural commer-
cialized service system. This book then goes on to prove that rural infor-
matization is indispensable in realizing rural commercialized social
services. By analyzing empirically the supply and demand of rural informa-
tization services and key technologies in the construction of a “resource
and ecologically sound society”, the book focuses on the selection of the
rural informatization service mode and platform construction, and dis-
cusses the problems of organization construction, operation, and the
guarantee mechanism in a rural informatization service system. On this
basis, this book studies the construction of the rural information service
system, focusing mainly on sci-tech promotion in China’s agricultural
development, agricultural production, product circulation, and product
quality and safety.

2.5  Institutional Innovations in the “Resource and Ecologically

Sound” Agricultural Transformation
To speed up “resource and ecologically sound agriculture”, it is necessary
to promote the transformation of government functions from managing
agriculture to serving agriculture, from the single goal of ensuring supply
of farm products to the multiple goals of increasing land productivity,
labor productivity, resource utilization efficiency and comprehensive agri-
cultural production capacity, protecting the eco-environment, and increas-
ing farmers’ income and promoting sustainable development of the
economy, thus fully functioning as economic regulators, market supervi-
sors, society managers, and public servants. To build the guarantee mecha-
nism for making China’s agriculture “resource and ecologically sound”, it
is important to innovatively set up institutional systems such as talent
development, land circulation, effective farmland resources utilization and
protection, national scientific and technological innovations, financial sup-
port, rural finance, eco-environment governance and protection, govern-
ment appraisal, and rural social management.
 CHAPTER 2

Agricultural Development Mode: Relevant

Theoretical Research at Home and Abroad

The transformation of the agricultural development mode is a new propo-

sition for China’s modern agricultural development and a profound revo-
lution in the history of agricultural development in China. Before the
“agricultural development mode” was put forward at the Third Plenary
Session of the 17th CPC Central Committee, the 15th National Congress
of the Party had proposed the concept of “transforming the economic
growth mode” and subsequently the concept of “agricultural growth
mode”. Many scholars believe that the content of “agricultural growth
mode” includes: resource intensity concentrated on per unit land area, the
satisfaction of growth targets, the utilization efficiency of production fac-
tors, the driving force behind the growth mechanism, and the regional
characteristics of growth mode.1 The transformation of agricultural growth
mode is essentially a process of technological progress and the optimal
allocation of resources. The major impact of the system on economic
growth will determine the allocation of resources and economic efficiency.2
The Third Plenary Session of the 17th CPC Central Committee pointed
out that the transformation of agricultural development mode should be
accelerated in accordance with the requirements of high yields, good

1
Tang, Zhong & Sun, Taosheng. On Agricultural Growth Mode [J], Xinjiang State
Farms Economy, 1998 (01).
2
Wu, Fangwei. The Key to Increase and Key Increase: Again on Agricultural Growth
Mode Transformation, Issues in Agricultural Economy, 2009, (12).

© The Author(s) 2020 17

W. Chen, Challenges and Opportunities for Chinese
Agriculture, China and Globalization 2.0,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-3536-9_2
18 W. CHEN

quality and high efficiency, ecological protection, and safety. Then why
should we transform agricultural development mode?3 What are the con-
notations? Is the transformation of agricultural development mode endog-
enous or exogenous? What are the constraints? These are timely topics
that urgently need to be explored before China realizes modern transfor-
mation in agriculture.
Domestic scholars generally believe that the agricultural development
mode refers to the methods, means, and patterns to realize agricultural
development. Transforming the agricultural development mode is to
improve the quality of agricultural development. Mainly through tech-
nological innovations and based on optimizing the structure, improving
efficiency, reducing energy consumption, and protecting the environ-
ment, it will achieve comprehensive and coordinated development,
which means the coordination of speed, quality, and efficiency; the coor-
dination of investment and consumption exports; the coordination of
population, resources, and environment; and the coordination of eco-
nomic and social development.4 In developed countries, the main goals
of agricultural modernization are commercialization and marketization,
with the aim of improving agricultural labor productivity. This kind of
development mode improves agricultural labor productivity through
technological progress and institutional innovations, but there are also a
series of problems such as food safety and environmental pollution. The
transformation of agricultural development mode is not only an issue of
efficiency, but also a game equilibrium of multiple objectives such as
efficiency, environmental protection, and safety. The transformation of
agricultural development mode refers to agricultural development fac-
tors, development mechanism, development path, and a series of struc-
tural changes. It mainly includes “the changes of input factors based on
technological progress, the changes of growth mechanism based on agri-
cultural market system, the changes in the path selection of resources
and environment constraints. Meanwhile, it also includes structural
changes such as farm products structure, consumption structure, income
structure, market structure and institutional structure, with a view to

3
The Compilation of Documents of the Third Plenary Meeting of the 17th Central Committee
of the Communist Party of China [M], Beijing: People’s Publishing House, 2008.
4
Tang, Sihang & Han, Xiaoqin. Changes of the Agricultural Developing Mode Is the Key
of Modern Agricultural development [J]. Social Sciences of Beijing, 2010 (2).
 2 AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT MODE: RELEVANT THEORETICAL… 19

achieving the transformation from extensive to intensive agriculture and

from traditional agriculture to modern agriculture”.5

1   The Neoclassical Production Functions

and Agricultural Development Mode: Theoretical
Basis and Its Consequences for the Development
of Traditional Agriculture

For a long time, the neoclassical production functions have been used to
describe agricultural productive relations. The increase of farm products,
that is, the development of agriculture, is the result of maximizing the
specific input portfolio. As the input of a certain production factor
increases, the production function increases from an increasing rate to a
decreasing rate until the function reaches its maximum value and begins to
decline. The increase of variable input leads to a decrease of the total out-
put. Put simply, output is a function of all the elements, namely p=f (a, b,
c …). The meaning can be expressed as follows: If the number of inputs
changes, then the number of outputs will change with it. In addition, the
change mode has some features6 from which can be seen the change of
production mode. Following the requirements of the neoclassical three-­
stage production function, the key to agricultural development is to
increase the input of the elements. This production function, which raises
production by increasing input, obscures the relationship between pro-
ductive knowledge, production function, and technical efficiency. This
problem wasn’t solved until the publication of Sune Carlson’s Pure Theory
of Production in 1939. In the production theory, research methods that
directly consider production methods rather than “putting it in the pro-
duction function” have arisen, making the relationship prominent. These
new methods include linear models of production and extended forms of

5
Zeng, Fusheng & Kuang, Yuanpei. Develop Modern Agriculture and Advance the
Transition of the Development Mode of Agricultural Economy [J]. Science & Technology and
Economy, 2010 (4).
6
Wicksteed, P.H. (1894) An Essay on the Co-ordination of the Laws of Distribution [EB/
OL], Macmillan & Co., London. At http://cepa.newschool.edu/het/texts/wicksteed/
wickess.pdf
20 W. CHEN

those models, such as process analysis, non-linear programming, and game

theory.7
The linear behavioral analysis framework, established by Koopmans,
makes a workable, abstract description of the technology level and intro-
duces it into economics. At first, productive knowledge is described by the
framework as “basic activity”, and it is formally expressed as a technical
vector. At the same time, it is considered to correspond to a concrete
“method of doing things” that can be identified. Subsequently, the theory
cites a set of basic principles to describe how the productive knowledge
represented by basic activities is scaled up, how it is combined, and how it
is modified. The core assumption of these principles is that, while main-
taining a constant proportional relationship between input and output,
the basic activities can scale up or down as appropriate. This means that,
assuming that there is only one output for a given production process, if
specific digital forms can be given to all the basic activities, then in prin-
ciple, the maximum output that a given combination of inputs can pro-
duce will be certain through the calculation of production function. The
“productive knowledge” in the linear behavioral analysis framework estab-
lished by Koopmans can be extended, combined, and modified. That is,
the technology is variable, but the model does not address the root causes
of changes in productive knowledge, which leads to an economic phe-
nomenon wherein neoclassical production function cannot analyze the
change of development mode.
With the evolution of the general equilibrium theory developed by
Arrow, Debreu, and other economists,8 another abstract expression model
of technological possibilities is gradually gaining prominence in economic
theory. This approach goes straight into the abstract core of things and
further generalizes the previous model. The quantity of product output is
expressed by a vector: q=q1, q2 … qM. The input vector is represented by
x=x1, x2… xM. These inputs may or may not produce the above output
products. If x can produce q, the input—output combination (x, q) is “in
production set” or in production possibility set. In this kind of expression,
all known or deemed acceptable attributes of the technical knowledge

7
Von Neumann, J. & Morgenstern, Oskar. Theory of Games and Economic Behavior [M],
(Trans.) Wang, Jianhua & Gu, Weilin. Beijing: Science Press, 1963; Koopmans,
T. C. Economics among the Sciences [J], The American Economic Review, 69, pp. 1–13.
8
Arrow, K. J. & Debrue G. Existence of an Equilibrium for a Competitive Economy [J],
Econometrica, 22 (1954): pp. 265–290.
 2 AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT MODE: RELEVANT THEORETICAL… 21

structure are considered as the basic elements of the production set attri-
butes. In general equilibrium theory, technology is still exogenous or
given. In the “input—output” combination, technology is the bond of
various input elements, and the change comes from the artificial setting.
Technology isn’t considered as a new element in economic development
until the Solomon remainder, thereby incorporating technological prog-
ress into the theory of economic growth and pushing the production
function theory into a new stage.9
The traditional agricultural development in China mainly depends on
increasing factor inputs. Its connotation is basically the same as that
described by the neoclassical production function. In order to ensure a
steady increase in national grain output, investment in production factors
such as land, capital, fertilizers, pesticides, and labor is continually added.
This agricultural production mode not only results in the waste of
resources, but also brings about serious pollution. The census results of
pollution sources show that agriculture is responsible for 47% of chemical
oxygen demand (COD) emissions and more than 50% of nitrogen and
phosphorus emissions. Therefore, it is an arduous task for agricultural
development to strengthen the support for material technology, improve
the utilization rate of resources, and reduce environmental pollution.10
The natural resources of China’s agricultural production have been rela-
tively scarce. The per capita farmland area is only one-third of the world
average. Along with urbanization and industrialization, roads and infra-
structural facilities continue to develop, and thus farmland is decreasing at
an annual rate of 200,000 hectares. It is estimated that per capita farmland
will decrease from 0.08 hectares to 0.06 hectares in 2020 and 0.05 hect-
ares in 2030.11 According to David Romer’s “growth drag” theory in
natural resources, Cui Yun has calculated that the “growth drag” of
China’s land resources was about 1.26 per cent annually from 1978 to
2005. That is, due to the consumption of land resources, China’s
economic growth rate dropped by an average of 1.26% annually.12 It can

9
Robert, M. S. Technical Change and the Aggregate Production Function [J]. The Review
of Economics and Statistics, Vol. 39, No. 3. (Aug., 1957), No. 1, 1956, pp. 312–320.
10
Chen, Xiwen. The Situation and Overall Thinking of Rural Reform and Development
[J], Chinese Cadres Tribune, 2009 (8).
11
Tang, Huajun et al. Land Use in China: On Cover Change [M], Beijing: China
Agricultural Scientific and technological Press, 2004.
12
Cui, Yun. An Analysis of “Drag” of Land Resources in China’s Economic Growth [J].
Economic Theory and Business Management, 2007 (11).
22 W. CHEN

be seen that land resources have become an important constraint for

China’s economic development, especially for agricultural development.
From the regional perspective, with the development of the economy, the
non-agriculture phenomenon of farmland resources will inevitably occur
in the developed eastern areas and the central suburbs. These areas should
strengthen the dynamic supervision over the utilization of farmland
resources and implement the resource-conserving urbanization policy to
avoid overly non-agriculture usage of farmland resources. In the western
region, where the eco-environment is relatively fragile,13 with the acceler-
ating process of urbanization and continuous conversion of farmland into
non-agricultural construction land, the phenomenon of inefficient and
extensive use of land resources is widespread in reality. Therefore, the con-
struction of a “resource and ecologically sound society” and the conserva-
tion and utilization of land resources are consistent.14 Agricultural
production dominated by factor inputs has been unsustainable in China
and must be changed.
The current agricultural development mode relies greatly on inputs of
chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Based on chemical fertilizers and pesti-
cides, technological advances are the main sources of agricultural growth
in China. Statistics show that over the past 40 years, the total amount of
chemical fertilizers in China has a significant or very significant positive
correlation with the total output of grain and cotton, as well as the rela-
tionship between unit area application of chemical fertilizers and the yield
of grain and cotton. The use of fertilizers is responsible for 30–50% of
China’s grain production.15 In China, fertilizer is the largest input material
in agricultural production. It is estimated that fertilizer input generally
accounts for 30% ~ 40% of all matter and energy inputs in grain ­production
of China and even as high as 50% in some high-yielding areas. In 2004,
the cost of Chinese farmers buying fertilizers has reached ¥180 billion. In
2010, China’s chemical fertilizer application rate exceeded one-­third of

13
Xu, Guangyue. The Relationship between Farmland Resources and Economic Growth:
An Empirical Analysis Based on Chinese Provincial Panel Data [J]. Chinese Rural Economy,
2009 (10).
14
Xiao, Xiangxiong & Liu, Hao. Research on the Innovative Mode of Farmland Operating
in Two-oriented Society [J]. China Development, 2010 (4).
15
Yang, Liping et al. Comprehensive Evaluation of Soil Nutrients Balanced Fertilization
Technique and Its Industrialization [J]. Phosphate & Compound Fertilizer, 2001 (4); Zeng,
Xibai & Li, Jumei. Fertilizer Application and Its Effect on Grain Production in Different
Counties of China [J]. Scientia Agricultura Sinica, 2004 (3).
 2 AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT MODE: RELEVANT THEORETICAL… 23

the world’s total. As the largest fertilizer-consuming country in the world,

farmland in China is fertilized by 30.5kg per mu (≈ 666.7m2), far exceed-
ing the upper limit of the safe use of fertilizers prescribed by developed
countries.16 The application of chemical fertilizers in agricultural produc-
tion in China is not only large in quantity, but also low in utilization rate,
unreasonable in use, and serious in waste, showing obvious overuse condi-
tions. It is estimated that only 35% of these fertilizers have been effectively
utilized,17 less than 10–15% of developed countries. There is a negative
correlation between fertilizer utilization ratio and its application rate.
Studies have shown that under low fertilizer (120 kg/hectare), the nitro-
gen utilization ratio can reach 45% and the winter wheat nitrogen loss rate
is less than 9%, but when the amount of nitrogen fertilizer increased to
360 kg/hectare, nitrogen use efficiency is only 23%, and the loss rate is as
high as 55%. At present, the seasonal utilization rates of nitrogenous fertil-
izers, phosphate fertilizers and potash fertilizers in China are only
30%–35%, 10%–20%, and 35%–50% respectively, lower than those in devel-
oped countries by 15–20%. The irrational application of fertilizers leads to
enormous waste of resources: over 4 million tons of chemical fertilizer
each year.18 Some studies even state that more than 30% of the waste nitro-
gen in fertilizer use in China is lost to farmland each year, leading to
groundwater pollution and ecosystem eutrophication in rivers, lakes and
shallow waters. At the same time, a large amount of nitrous oxide gas vola-
tilizes into the air, forming three-dimensional pollution that expands
“from the ground to the air”.19 It is clear that the over-fertilization caused
by the existing agricultural development not only reduces the quality of
farm products, increasing the agricultural production costs, but also causes
serious pollution to the environment.20 In addition, as the world’s largest
consumer of pesticides, annual pesticide consumption in China is between
800,000 and 1,000,000 tons. Among these pesticides, toxic chemical

16
Gong, Qianwen et al. An Analysis of Factors Affecting Farmers’ Over-fertilization Risk
Cognition and Evasion Ability [J]. Chinese Rural Economy, 2010 (10).
17
Liu, Qingsong. Types and Hazards of Soil Pollution [J]. Environmental Herald,
2002 (5).
18
Zhang, Fusuo et al. Discussion on Fertilizer in an Era of Modern Agriculture [J].
Phosphate & Compound Fertilizer, 2003 (1).
19
Ma, Defu & Liu, Xiuqing. On Agriculture and “Two-oriented Society” and “Two-
oriented Agriculture” [J]. Hubei Social Sciences, 2010 (12).
20
Li, Jun et al. Discussion on the Establishment of Safety Standards for Exporting
Vegetables and Animal-derived Foods from China [J]. China Standardization, 2003 (1).
24 W. CHEN

pesticides account for a large proportion and some banned pesticides are
still in use. Pesticides are not only used in large quantities but also in low
utilization. The utilization rate of pesticides in China is only 20%–30%,
which not only causes serious waste, but also directly endangers water and
food safety, human health, and environment.21 Is there a possible equilib-
rium between agricultural development and environmental friendliness?
Based on data from 1978 to 2009 in Jiangsu Province, Jihong Ge and
Shudong Zhou have conducted empirical analysis on the economic factors
of agricultural non-point pollution. The results show that when the scale
of agricultural economy is expanding, the proportion of aquaculture in
agriculture is increasing while the proportion of planting industry is
decreasing, the proportion of cash crops is rising while the proportion of
grain crops is declining in plantation structure, and the expansion of rural
population will increase the emission of agricultural non-point source pol-
lutants.22 However, agro-technology progress and the implementation of
the agricultural non-point pollution control policy can effectively reduce
the agricultural non-point source pollutant emissions, which shows that
the coordination of agricultural economic growth and environmental pro-
tection is achievable. Agricultural development does not mean that the
environment must be sacrificed, while environmental protection does not
necessarily mean the cost of agricultural recession. The key is to change
the current mode of agricultural development.
In the current agricultural development mode, the input of fertilizers
and pesticides has been on an upward trend since 1960 to ensure the
increase of grain output. The density of fertilizer application increased
from 7 kg/hectare in 1960 to 47.03 kg/hectare in 2008 and the propor-
tion of rural land (rural land/land area) increased from 37% in 1960 to
56% in 2008.23 This is a typical agricultural development mode that
depends on input factors. The scarcity of natural resources in agricultural
production in China is manifested not only in land resources but also in
the shortage of water resources. China’s water resources are only about

21
Fu, Zetian et al. 1998. Over-Use of Pesticide and Approaches to Reduce Pesticide
Dosage [J]. Transactions of the Chinese Society of Agricultural Engineering, 1998 (2).
22
Ge, Jihong & Zhou, Shudong. Economic Factors for Agricultural Non-point sources
pollution: An Analysis Based on the Data of Jiangsu Province (1978–2009), Chinese Rural
Economy, 2011 (5).
23
He, Chuanqi. China Modernization Report 2012 [M]. Beijing: Peking University
Press, 2012.
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
 Take of—Carbonate of Magnesia,
Milk of sulphur, of each, three drachms;

Mix.—To make nine powders. One to be taken early every, or every other
morning, mixed in half a teaspoonful of new milk.
315. Remember, in these cases, it is necessary to keep the motions
in a softened state, as hard lumps of stool would, in passing, give
intense pain.
316. If the confection of senna and the other remedies do not act
sufficiently, it may be well to give, once or twice a week, a
teaspoonful or a dessertspoonful of castor oil.
317. In piles, if they are not much inflamed, and provided there be
constipation, a pint of tepid water, administered early every morning
as an enema, will be found serviceable. Care and gentleness ought, of
course, to be observed in introducing the enema pipe (but which only
requires ordinary care), in order not to press unduly on the
surrounding piles.
318. The patient ought to lie down frequently in the day. She will
derive great comfort from sitting either on an air-cushion or on a
water-cushion about half filled with water, placed on the chair; for
sometimes she is unable to sit on an ordinary seat.
319. In piles, the patient ought to live on a plain, nourishing,
simple diet, but should avoid all stimulants; any food or beverage
that will inflame the blood will likewise inflame the piles.
320. Piles in pregnancy are frequently troublesome, and
sometimes resist all treatment until the patient is confined, when
they generally get well of themselves; but still the remedies
recommended above will usually afford great relief, even if they do
not effect a cure.
321. Swollen legs from enlarged veins (varicose veins).—The veins
are frequently much enlarged and distended, causing the legs to be
greatly swollen and very painful, preventing the patient from taking
proper walking exercise. Swollen legs are owing to the pressure of the
womb upon the blood-vessels above. Women who have had large
families are more liable to varicose veins than others. If a lady marry
late in life, or if she be very heavy in her pregnancy—carrying the
child low down—she is more likely to have the veins to distend.
 322. The best plan will be for her to wear an elastic silk stocking,[65]
which ought to be made on purpose for her, in order that it may
properly fit the leg and foot. It will draw on like a common stocking.
She ought to wear a gauze stocking next the skin, and the elastic
stocking over it, as the gauze stocking can then, from time to time, be
washed, as can likewise the foot and leg. Moreover, the gauze
stocking will be more comfortable next the skin than the elastic
stocking.
323. If the varicose veins should be very painful, she had better
apply to a medical man, as it may be necessary, in such a case, to
have them enveloped in mild plasters, and then rolled.
324. If the feet and legs be cold as well as swollen, a domette[66]
bandage, two inches and a half wide and eight yards long, nicely
applied to each leg, from the toes to the knee, will be found a great
comfort. One great advantage that domette has over calico is that it
will keep in its place for days, while calico will be loose in an hour or
two.
325. Stretching of the skin of the belly is frequently, especially in a
first pregnancy, distressing, from the soreness it causes. The best
remedy is to rub the bowels, every night and morning, with warm
camphorated oil, and to apply a broad flannel belt, which should be
put on moderately but comfortably tight. The belt ought to be
secured in its situation by means of properly adjusted tapes.
326. If the skin of the belly, from the violent stretching, be
cracked, the patient had better dress the part affected, every night
and morning, with equal parts of simple cerate and of lard—lard
without salt—well mixed together, spread on lint; which ought to be
kept in its place by means of a broad bandage, similar to the one used
in confinements, and which is described in a subsequent paragraph
(Bandage after Confinements).
321. Pendulous belly.—A lady sometimes, from being at these
times unusually large, suffers severely; so much so, that she cannot,
without experiencing great inconvenience, move about. This, where a
patient is stout, and where she has had a large family of children, is
more likely to occur, and especially if she has neglected proper
bandaging after her previous confinements.
 328. She ought in such a case to procure, from a surgical-
instrument-maker, an elastic abdominal belt, made purposely for
pendulous bellies, which will, without unduly pressing on the belly,
be a support. It is a good plan to have the belt made either to lace
behind or with straps and buckles, in order to accommodate the belly
to its gradually increasing size.
329. If the patient be delicate, and if she has a languid circulation,
she ought, instead of the elastic belt, to apply a broad flannel belly-
band, which should go twice around the bowels, and must be put on
moderately and comfortably tight.
330. The patient, before the approach of labor, ought to take
particular care to have the bowels gently opened, as during that time
a costive state of them greatly increases her sufferings, and lengthens
the period of her labor. I say a gentle action is all that is necessary; a
violent one would do more harm than good.
331. Toothache is a frequent complaint of pregnancy; and I wish to
caution my gentle reader not to have, during the time she is enceinte,
a tooth extracted; miscarriage or premature labor has frequently
followed the extraction of a tooth.
332. If the tooth be decayed, the hollow ought to be filled with
cotton wool, soaked either in oil of cloves, or in equal parts of oil of
cloves and of chloroform, and which should be frequently renewed;
or with what I have found an excellent remedy, a little alum dissolved
in chloroform.[67] A bit of cotton wool placed in the ear of the affected
side will oftentimes relieve the toothache arising from a decayed
tooth. This simple remedy ought always to be tried before resorting
to more active treatment. If the above remedies do not relieve, soak a
small ball of cotton wool in chloroform, and insert it inside the ear,
and let it remain there until the pain be relieved; let it be from time
to time renewed. I have frequently found in toothache the above plan
most efficacious, and to afford relief when other means have failed.
333. Creasote (spirits of tar) is sometimes applied, but of all
remedies it is the worst for the purpose. I have known it, when thus
used, severely injure and decay the whole of the remaining teeth: one
case in particular I remember, of a gentleman who, by the frequent
use of creasote, for the relief of toothache, lost the whole of his teeth!
 334. If the teeth be not decayed, especially if the stomach be
disordered, let an aperient be taken. The state of the bowels ought
always to be attended to, as toothache is frequently relieved, and
when the tooth is not decayed, cured by a dose of opening medicine.
Let the sides of the face be well fomented with hot chamomile and
poppy-head tea, and let a piece of crumb of bread (but not crumbed
bread) be soaked for five minutes in boiling milk, and be frequently
placed inside the mouth, between the cheek and gum; and let a large
hot bread poultice be applied at bedtime to the outside of the face.
335. If the above does not have the desired effect, a piece of brown
paper, the size of the palm of the hand, soaked in brandy, and then
well peppered with black pepper, should be applied outside the
cheek, over the part affected, and kept on for several hours. It ought
from time to time to be renewed. This simple and old-fashioned
remedy will sometimes afford great relief. It is in these cases
preferable to a mustard poultice, as it is less painful, and neither
blisters nor injures the skin.
336. If the pepper plaster does not afford relief, a ginger plaster
should be tried:
Take of—Powdered Ginger,
Flour, of each one tablespoonful;
Water, a sufficient quantity:

To be well mixed together, adding the water drop by drop (stirring it the while)
until it be of the consistence of paste. Let it be applied at bedtime, on linen
rag, outside the cheek, and let it remain on all night, or until the pain be
relieved.
337. If the tooth be not decayed, and if the pain of the face be more
of a neuralgic (tic-douloureux) character, the following pills will
frequently afford great relief:
Take of—Sulphate of Quinine, twenty-four grains;
Powdered Extract of Liquorice, six grains;
Treacle, a sufficient quantity:

To make twelve pills. One to be taken three times a day.

338. The teeth, in pregnancy, are very apt to decay: I have known
several patients, each of whom has lost a tooth with every child!
 339. Morning sickness.—It is said to be “morning,” as in these
cases, unless the stomach be disordered, it seldom occurs during any
other part of the day. Morning sickness may be distinguished from
the sickness of a disordered stomach by the former occurring only
early in the morning, on the first sitting up in bed, the patient during
the remainder of the day feeling quite free from sickness, and
generally being able to eat and relish her food as though nothing
ailed her.
340. Morning sickness begins with a sensation of nausea early in
the morning, and as soon as she rises from bed she feels sick and
retches; and sometimes, but not always, vomits a little sour, watery,
glairy fluid; and occasionally, if she has eaten heartily at supper the
night previously, the contents of the stomach are ejected. She then
feels all right again, and is usually ready for her breakfast, which she
eats with her usual relish. Many ladies have better appetites during
pregnancy than at any other period of their lives.
341. The sickness of a disordered stomach unaccompanied with
pregnancy may be distinguished from morning sickness by the
former continuing during the whole day, by the appetite remaining
bad after the morning has passed, by a disagreeable taste in the
mouth, and by the tongue being generally furred. Moreover, in such
a case there is usually much flatulence. The patient not only feels but
looks bilious.
342. If the stomach be disordered during pregnancy, there will, of
course, be a complication of the symptoms, and the morning
sickness may become both day and night sickness. Proper means
ought then to be employed to rectify the disordered stomach, and the
patient will soon have only the morning sickness to contend against;
which latter, after she has quickened, will generally leave of its own
accord.
343. Morning sickness is frequently a distressing, although not a
dangerous complaint. It is only distressing while it lasts, for after the
stomach is unloaded, the appetite generally returns, and the patient
usually feels, until the next morning, quite well again, when she has
to go through the same process as before.
344. It occurs both in the early and in the latter months of
pregnancy; more especially during the former, up to the period of
quickening, at which time it usually ceases. Morning sickness is
frequently the first harbinger of pregnancy, and is looked upon by
many ladies who have had children as a sure and certain sign.
Morning sickness does not always occur in pregnancy; some women,
at such times, are neither sick nor sorry.
345. A good way to relieve it is by taking, before rising in the
morning, a cup of strong coffee. If this should not have the desired
effect, she ought to try an effervescing draught:
Take of—Bicarbonate of Potash, one drachm and a half;
Water, eight ounces:

Two Tablespoonfuls of this mixture to be taken with one of lemon-juice every

hour, while effervescing, until relief be obtained.
346. A glass of champagne, taken the overnight, I have sometimes
found to be the best remedy, and, if it has the desired effect, it
certainly is the most agreeable.
347. I have known, too, cider, where other things have failed, to
succeed in abating morning sickness.
348. Sometimes, until the whole contents of the stomach be
brought up, she does not obtain relief from her sickness. She had
better, when such is the case, drink plentifully of warm water, in
order to encourage free vomiting. Such a plan, of course, is only
advisable when the morning sickness is obstinate, and when the
treatment recommended above has failed to afford relief.
349. The morning sickness, during the early months, is caused by
sympathy between the stomach and the womb; and during the latter
months by pressure of the upper part of the womb against the
stomach. As we cannot remove the sympathy and the pressure, we
cannot always relieve the sickness; the patient, therefore, is
sometimes obliged to bear with the annoyance.
350. The bowels ought to be kept gently opened, either by a
Seidlitz powder taken early in the morning, or by one or two
compound rhubarb pills at bedtime, or by the following mixture:
Take of—Carbonate of Magnesia, two drachms;
Sulphate of Magnesia, one ounce;
Peppermint water, seven ounces:
 A wineglassful of this mixture to be taken early in the morning, occasionally,
first shaking the bottle.
351. Great attention ought in such a case to be paid to the diet; it
should be moderate in quantity, and simple in quality. Rich dishes,
highly-seasoned soups and melted butter must be avoided. Hearty
meat suppers ought not on any account to be allowed. There is
nothing better, if anything be taken at night, than either a teacupful
of nicely-made and well-boiled oatmeal gruel, or of arrow-root, or of
Arabica Revalenta. Any of the above may be made either with water,
or with new milk, or with cream and water.
352. It is an old saying, and, I believe as a rule, a true one, “that
sick pregnancies are safe,” more especially if the sickness leaves,
which it generally does, after she has quickened. The above remarks,
of course, do not include obstinate, inveterate vomiting, occasionally
occurring in the latter period of pregnancy, and which not only takes
place in the morning, but during the whole of the day and of the
night, and for weeks together, sometimes bringing a patient to the
brink of the grave. Such a case, fortunately, is extremely rare.
Another old and generally true saying is, “that females who have sick
pregnancies seldom miscarry.”
353. Means to harden the nipples.—A mother, especially with her
first child, sometimes suffers severely from sore nipples. Such
suffering may frequently be prevented, if for six weeks or two months
before her confinement, she were to bathe her nipples, every night
and morning, for five minutes each time, either with eau de Cologne,
or with brandy and water, equal parts of each. The better plan will be
to have the brandy and water in a small bottle ready for use, and
putting a little each time into a teacup, using it fresh and fresh. A soft
piece of fine old linen rag should be used for the purpose of bathing.
All pressure ought to be taken from the nipples; if the stays,
therefore, unduly press them, either let them be enlarged or let them
be entirely removed. The nipples themselves ought to be covered
with a soft linen rag, as the friction of a flannel vest would be apt to
irritate them. Let me recommend every pregnant lady, more
especially in her first pregnancy, to adopt either the one or the other
of the above plans to harden the nipples; it might avert much misery,
as sore nipples are painful and distressing; and prevention at all
times is better than cure.
 354. The breasts are, at times, during pregnancy, much swollen
and very painful; and, now and then, they cause the patient great
uneasiness, as she fancies that she is going to have either some
dreadful tumor or a gathering of the bosom. There need, in such a
case, be no apprehension. The swelling and the pain are the
consequences of the pregnancy, and will in due time subside without
any unpleasant result. The fact is, great changes are taking place in
the breasts; they are developing themselves, and are preparing for
the important functions they will have to perform the moment the
labor is completed.
355. Treatment.—She cannot do better than, every night and
morning, to well rub them with equal parts of eau de Cologne and of
olive oil, and to wear a piece of new flannel over them; taking care to
cover the nipples with soft linen, as the friction of the flannel may
irritate them. The liniment encourages a little milky fluid to ooze out
of the nipple, which will afford relief.
356. If stays be worn, the patient should wear them slack, in order
to allow the bosoms plenty of room to develop themselves. The bones
of the stays ought all to be removed, or serious consequences might
ensue.
357. Bowel complaints, during pregnancy, are not unfrequent. A
dose either of rhubarb and magnesia, or of castor oil, are the best
remedies, and are generally, in the way of medicine, all that is
necessary.
358. The diet at such times ought to be simple, small in quantity,
and nourishing. Farinaceous food, such as rice, tapioca, sago, Du
Barry’s Arabica Revalenta, and arrow-root, are particularly
beneficial. Green vegetables and fruits, especially stone fruits and
uncooked fruits, ought to be avoided.
359. The surface of the body—the bowels and feet particularly—
ought to be kept warm. If a lady suffer habitually from relaxation of
the bowels, let her, by all means, wear a flannel vest next the skin.
360. The bladder.—The patient during pregnancy is liable to
various affections of the bladder. There is sometimes a sluggishness
of that organ, and she has little or no inclination to make water.
There is, at another time, a great irritability of the bladder, and she
is constantly wanting to pass urine; while, in a third case, more
especially toward the latter period of the time, she can scarcely hold
her water at all,—the slightest bodily exertion, such as walking,
stooping, coughing, sneezing, etc., causing it to come away
involuntarily; and even in some cases, where she is perfectly still, it
dribbles away without her having any power to prevent its doing so.
361. A sluggish state of the bladder is best remedied by gentle
exercise, and by the patient attempting, whether she want or not, to
make water at least every four hours.
362. Irritability of the bladder.—The patient ought, during the
day, to drink freely of the following beverage:
Take of—Best Gum Arabic, one ounce;
Pearl Barley, one ounce;
Water, one pint and a half:

Boil for a quarter of an hour, then strain, and sweeten either with sugar candy or
lump sugar.
363. The bowels ought to be gently opened with small doses of
castor oil. The patient must abstain from beer, wine, or spirits, and
should live on a mild, bland, nourishing diet.
364. Where the patient cannot hold her water there is not a great
deal to be done, as the pregnant womb by pressing on the bladder
prevents much present relief. The comfort is, as soon as the labor is
over, it will cure itself. She ought frequently in the day to lie down
either on a horse-hair mattress or on a couch. She should drink but a
moderate quantity of liquid, and if she has a cough (for a cough
greatly increases this inability to hold the water), she ought to take
the following mixture:
Take of—Compound Tincture of Camphor, half an ounce;
Compound Spirits of Lavender, half a drachm;
Oxymel of Squills, six drachms;
Water, six ounces and a half:

Two tablespoonfuls of this mixture to be taken three times a day.

365. Fainting.—A delicate woman, when she is enceinte, is apt
either to feel faint or to actually faint away. When it is considered the
enormous changes that, during pregnancy, take place, and the great
pressure there is upon the nerves and the blood-vessels, it is not at
all surprising that she should do so. There is one consolation, that
although fainting at such times is disagreeable, it is not at all
dangerous, unless the patient be really laboring under a disease of
the heart.
366. Treatment.—If the patient feel faint, she ought immediately
to lie down flat upon her back, without a pillow under her head; that
is to say, her head should be on a level with her body. The stays and
any tight articles of dress—if she has been foolish enough to wear
either tight stays or tight clothes—ought to be loosened; the windows
should be thrown wide open; water ought to be sprinkled on her face;
and sal-volatile—a teaspoonful in a wineglassful of water, or a glass
of wine ought to be administered. Smelling-salts must be applied to
the nostrils. The attendants—there should only be one or two present
—should not crowd around her, as she ought to have plenty of room
to breathe.
367. She must, in the intervals, live on a good, light, generous diet.
She should keep early hours, and ought to sleep in a well-ventilated
apartment. The following strengthening medicine will be found
serviceable:
Take of—Sulphate of Quinine, twelve grains;
Diluted Sulphuric Acid, half a drachm;
Syrup of Orange-peel, half an ounce;
Water, seven ounces and a half:

Two tablespoonfuls of the mixture to be taken three times a day.

If she be delicate, a change either to the country, or, if the railway
journey be not very long, to the coast, will be desirable.
368. A nervous patient during this period is subject to palpitation
of the heart. This palpitation, provided it occur only during
pregnancy, is not dangerous; it need therefore cause no alarm. It is
occasioned by the pressure of the pregnant womb upon the large
blood-vessels, which induces a temporary derangement of the heart’s
action. This palpitation is generally worse at night, when the patient
is lying down. There is, at these times, from the position, greater
pressure on the blood-vessels. Moreover, when she is lying down, the
midriff, in consequence of the increased size of the belly, is pressed
upward, and hence the heart has not its accustomed room to work in,
and palpitation is in consequence the result.
 369. The best remedies will be either half a teaspoonful of
compound spirits of lavender or a teaspoonful of sal-volatile in a
wineglassful of camphor julep,[68] or a combination of lavender and
of sal-volatile:
Take of—Compound Spirits of Lavender, one drachm;
Sal-Volatile, eleven drachms:

Mix.—A teaspoonful of the drops to be taken occasionally in a wineglassful of

water.
370. These medicines ought to lie on a table by the bedside of the
patient, in order that they may, if necessary, be administered at once.
Brandy is in these cases sometimes given, but it is a dangerous
remedy to administer every time there is palpitation; while the
lavender and the sal-volatile are perfectly safe medicines, and can
never do the slightest harm.
371. Mental emotion, fatigue, late hours, and close rooms ought to
be guarded against. Gentle out-door exercise, and cheerful but not
boisterous company are desirable.
372. Cramps of the legs and of the thighs during the latter period,
and especially at night, are apt to attend pregnancy, and are caused
by the womb pressing upon the nerves which extend to the lower
extremities. Treatment.—Tightly tie a handkerchief folded like a
neckerchief round the limb a little above the part affected, and let it
remain on for a few minutes. Friction by means of the hand either
with opodeldoc or with laudanum (taking care not to drink it by
mistake) will also give relief. Cramp sometimes attacks either the
bowels or the back of a pregnant woman; when such is the case, let a
bag of hot salt, or a hot-water bag,[69] or a tin stomach warmer filled
with hot water and covered with flannel, or a stone bottle containing
hot water, wrapped in flannel, be applied over the part affected; and
let either a stone bottle of hot water or a hot brick, which should be
incased in flannel, be placed to the soles of the feet. If the cramp of
the bowels, of the back, or of the thighs be very severe, the following
mixture will be serviceable:
Take of—Compound Tincture of Camphor, one ounce;
Dill Water, five ounces:
 A wineglassful of this mixture to be taken at bedtime occasionally, and to be
repeated, if necessary, in four hours.
373. “The whites,” during pregnancy, especially during the latter
months, and particularly if the lady has had many children, are
frequently troublesome, and are, in a measure, owing to the pressure
of the womb on the parts below causing irritation. The best way,
therefore, to obviate such pressure, is for the patient to lie down a
great part of each day either on a bed or on a sofa.
374. She ought to retire early to rest; she should sleep on a horse-
hair mattress and in a well-ventilated apartment, and she must not
overload her bed with clothes. A thick, heavy quilt at these times, and
indeed at all times, is particularly objectionable; the perspiration
cannot pass readily through it as through blankets, and thus she is
weakened. She ought to live on plain, wholesome, nourishing food;
but she must abstain from beer and wine and spirits. The bowels
ought to be gently opened by means of a Seidlitz powder, which
should occasionally be taken early in the morning.
375. The best application will be, to bathe the parts with warm
fuller’s earth and water, in the proportion of a handful of powdered
fuller’s earth to half a wash-hand-basinful of warm water; and the
internal parts ought, night and morning, to be bathed with it. If the
fuller’s earth should not have the desired effect, an alum injection[70]
ought, every night and morning, by means of an india-rubber vaginal
syringe,[71] to be syringed up the parts; or fifteen drops of solution of
diacetate of lead should be added to a quarter of a pint of lukewarm
water, and be used in a similar manner as the alum injection.
376. Cleanliness, in these cases, cannot be too strongly urged.
Indeed, every woman, either married or single, ought, unless special
circumstances forbid, to use either the bidet or a sitz-bath. If she has
not the “whites,” or if she has them only slightly, cold, quite cold
water is preferable to tepid. I should advise, then, every lady, both
married and single, whether she has the “whites” or not, a regular
sitz-bath[72] every morning (except during her “poorly times”)—that
is to say, I should recommend her to sit every morning in the water
(in cold water) for a few seconds, or while she can count a hundred;
throwing the while either a small blanket or shawl over her
shoulders, but having no other clothing on except slippers on her
feet. She should, for the first few mornings, make the water
lukewarm; but the sooner she can use it cold—quite cold—the more
good it will do her.
377. If the above plan were more generally followed, women of all
classes and ages would derive immense benefit from its adoption,
and many serious diseases would be warded off. Besides, the use of
the sitz-bath, after a time, would be a great comfort and enjoyment.
378. Where a lady suffers severely from the “whites,” she ought to
visit the coast. There is nothing in such cases that generally affords
so much relief as the bracing effects of sea-air. Of course, if she be
pregnant, she ought not to bathe in the sea, but should, every night
and morning, bathe the external parts with sea water.
379. When the patient has been much weakened by the “whites,”
she will derive benefit from a quinine mixture[73]—a dose of which
ought to be taken twice or three times a day.
380. Irritation and itching of the external parts.—This is a most
troublesome affection, and may occur at any time, but more
especially during the latter period of the pregnancy; and as it is a
subject that a lady is too delicate and too sensitive to consult a
medical man about, I think it well to lay down a few rules for her
relief. The misery it entails, if not relieved, is almost past endurance.
381. Well, then, in the first place, let her diet be simple and
nourishing; let her avoid stimulants of all kinds. In the next place,
and this is a most important item of treatment, let her use a tepid
salt and water sitz-bath.[74]
382. The way to prepare the bath is to put a large handful of table
salt into the sitz-bath, then to add cold water to the depth of three or
four inches, and sufficient hot water to make the water tepid or
lukewarm. The patient must sit in the bath; her slippered feet being,
of course, out of the water, and on the ground, and either a woolen
shawl or a small blanket being thrown over her shoulders: which
shawl or blanket ought to be the only covering she has on the while.
She should remain only for a few seconds, or while she can count, in
the winter, fifty, or the summer, a hundred, in the bath. Patients
generally derive great comfort and benefit from these salt and water
sitz-baths.
383. If the itching, during the daytime, continue, the following
lotion ought to be used:
 Take of—Solution of Diacetate of Lead, one drachm;
Rectified Spirits of Wine, one drachm;
Distilled Water, one pint:

To make a lotion. The parts affected to be bathed three or four times a day with
the lotion. Or the parts may be bathed two or three times a day with equal
parts of vinegar and water.
384. The external parts, and the passage to the womb (the vagina),
in these cases, are not only irritable and itching, but are sometimes
hot and inflamed, and are covered either with small pimples, or
with a whitish exudation of the nature of aphtha (thrush), somewhat
similar to the thrush on the mouth of an infant; then the addition of
glycerin to the lotion is a great improvement, and usually gives
immense relief. Either of the following is a good lotion for the
purpose:
Take of—Biborate of Soda, eight drachms;
Glycerin five ounces;
Distilled Water, ten ounces:

To make a lotion. The part affected to be bathed every four hours with the lotion,
first shaking the bottle.
Or,
Take of—Solution of Diacetate of Lead,
Rectified Spirits of Wine, of each, one drachm;
Glycerin, five ounces;
Rose Water, ten ounces and a half:

To make a lotion. To be used in the same manner as the preceding one.

MISCARRIAGE.

385. If a premature expulsion of the child occur before the end of

the seventh month, it is called either a miscarriage or an abortion; if
between the seventh month and before the full period of nine
months, a premature labor.
386. There is a proneness for a young wife to miscarry, and woe
betide her, if she once establish the habit! for it, unfortunately, often
becomes a habit. A miscarriage is a serious calamity, and should be
considered in that light; not only to the mother herself, whose
constitution frequent miscarriages might seriously injure, and
eventually ruin; but it might rob the wife of one of her greatest
earthly privileges, the inestimable pleasure and delight of being a
mother!
387. Now, as a miscarriage may generally be prevented, it
behooves a wife to look well into the matter, and to study the subject
thoroughly for herself, in order to guard against her first
miscarriage; for the first miscarriage is the one that frequently leads
to a series. How necessary it is that the above important fact should
be borne in mind! How much misery might be averted; as, then,
means would, by avoiding the usual causes, be taken to ward off such
an awful calamity. I am quite convinced that in the majority of cases,
miscarriages may be prevented.
388. Hence the importance of a popular work of this kind, to point
out dangers, to give judicious advice, that a wife may read, ponder
over, and “inwardly digest,” and that she may see the folly of the
present practices that wives—young wives especially—usually
indulge in, and thus, that she may avoid the rocks they split on,
which make a shipwreck of their most cherished hopes and
treasures.
389. Let it then be thoroughly understood,—first, that a
miscarriage is very weakening—more weakening than a labor; and,
secondly, that if a lady has once miscarried, she is more likely to
miscarry again and again; until, at length, her constitution is broken,
and the chances of her having a child become small indeed!
390. Causes.—A slight cause will frequently occasion the
separation of the child from the mother, and the consequent death
and expulsion of the fœtus; hence the readiness with which a lady
sometimes miscarries. The following are the most common causes of
a young wife miscarrying: Taking long walks; riding on horseback; or
over rough roads in a carriage; a long railway journey; overexerting
herself, and sitting up late at night. Her mind, just after marriage, is
frequently too much excited by large parties, by balls, and concerts.
391. The following are, moreover, frequent causes of a miscarriage:
Falls; all violent emotions of the mind, passion, fright, etc.; fatigue;
overreaching; sudden shocks; taking a wrong step either in
ascending or in descending stairs; falling down stairs; lifting heavy
weights; violent drastic purgatives; calomel; obstinate constipation;
debility of constitution; consumptive habit of body; fashionable
amusements; dancing; late hours; tight lacing; indeed, anything and
everything that injuriously affects either the mind or the body.
392. The old maxim that “prevention is better than cure” is well
exemplified in the case of a miscarriage. Let me, then, appeal
strongly to my fair reader to do all that she can, by avoiding the usual
causes of a miscarriage which I have above enumerated, to prevent
such a catastrophe. A miscarriage is no trifling matter; it is one of the
most grievous accidents that can occur to a wife, and is truly a
catastrophe.
393. Threatening or warning symptoms of a miscarriage.—A
lady about to miscarry usually, for one or two days, experiences a
feeling of lassitude, of debility, of malaise, and depression of spirits;
she feels as though she were going to be taken “poorly;” she
complains of weakness and of uneasiness about the loins, the hips,
the thighs, and the lower part of the belly. This is an important stage
of the case, and one in which a judicious medical man may, almost to
a certainty, be able to stave off a miscarriage.
394. More serious, but still only threatening symptoms of a
miscarriage.—If the above symptoms are allowed to proceed,
unchecked and untended, she will, after a day or two, have a slight
show of blood; this show may soon increase to a flooding, which will
shortly become clotted. Then, perhaps, she begins for the first time
to dread a miscarriage! There may at this time be but little pain, and
the miscarriage might, with judicious treatment, be even now
warded off. At all events, if the miscarriage cannot be prevented, the
ill effects to her constitution may, with care, be palliated, and means
may be used to prevent a future miscarriage.
395. Decided symptoms of a miscarriage.—If the miscarriage be
still proceeding, a new train of symptoms develop themselves; pains
begin to come on, at first slight, irregular, and of a “grinding” nature,
but which soon become more severe, regular, and “bearing down.”
Indeed, the case is now a labor in miniature; it becomes le
commencement de la fin; the patient is sure to miscarry, as the child
is now dead, and separated from its connection with the mother.
396. The most usual time for a lady to miscarry is from the eighth
to the twelfth week. It is not, of course, confined to this period, as
during the whole time of pregnancy there is a chance of a premature
expulsion of the contents of the womb. A miscarriage before the
fourth month is at the time attended with little danger; although, if
neglected, it may forever injure the constitution.
397. There is, in every miscarriage, more or less of flooding, which
is the most important symptom. After the fourth month it is
accompanied with more risk; as the further a lady is advanced in her
pregnancy, the greater is the danger of increased flooding;
notwithstanding, under judicious treatment, there is every chance of
her doing well.
398. A medical man ought in such a case always to be sent for.
There is as much care required in a miscarriage as, or more than, in a
labor.
399. If bearing down, expulsive pains—similar to labor pains—
should accompany the flooding; if the flooding increase, and if large
clots come away; if the breasts become smaller and softer; if there be
coldness, and heaviness, and diminution in the size of the belly; if the
motion of the child (the patient having quickened) cannot be felt; if
there be “the impression of a heavy mass rolling about the uterus
[womb], or the falling of the uterine tumor from side to side in the
abdomen [belly] as the patient changes her position;”[75] and if there
be an unpleasant discharge, she may rest assured that the child is
dead, and that it is separated from all connection with her, and that
the miscarriage must proceed, it being only a question of time. Of
course, in such a case—if she has not already done so—she ought
immediately to send for a medical man. A miscarriage sometimes
begins and ends in a few days—five or six; it at other times continues
a fortnight, and even in some cases three weeks.
400. Treatment.—If a patient has the slightest “show,” she ought
immediately to confine herself either to a sofa or she should keep in
bed. A soft feather bed must be avoided; it both enervates the body
and predisposes to a miscarriage. There is nothing better for her to
sleep on than a horse-hair mattress. She either ought to lie flat upon
her back or should lie upon her side, as it is quite absurd for her
merely to rest her legs and feet, as it is the back and the belly, not the
feet and the legs, that require rest.
401. Let her put herself on a low diet, such as on arrow-root,
tapioca, sago, gruel, chicken-broth, tea, toast and water, and
lemonade; and whatever she does drink ought, during the time of the
miscarriage, to be cold. Grapes, at these times, are cooling and
refreshing.
402. The temperature of the bedroom should be kept cool; and, if
it be summer, the window ought to be thrown open; aperient
medicines must be avoided; and if the flooding be violent, cold water
should be applied externally to the parts.
403. Let me strongly urge upon the patient the vast importance of
preserving any and every substance that might come away, in order
that it may be carefully examined by the medical man.
404. It is utterly impossible for a doctor to declare positively that a
lady has miscarried, and that all has properly come away, if he have
not had an opportunity of examining the substances for himself.
How often has a lady declared to her medical man that she has
miscarried, when she has only parted with clots of blood! Clots
sometimes put on strange appearances, and require a practiced and
professional eye to decide at all times upon what they really are.
405. The same care is required after a miscarriage as after a
labor; indeed, a patient requires to be treated much in the same
manner—that is to say, she ought for a few days to keep her bed, and
should live upon the diet I have recommended after a confinement,
avoiding for the first few days stimulants of all kinds. Many women
date their ill state of health to a neglected miscarriage; it therefore
behooves a lady to guard against such a catastrophe.
406. A patient prone to miscarry, ought, before she become
pregnant again, to use every means to brace and strengthen her
system. The best plan that she can adopt will be TO LEAVE HER
HUSBAND FOR SEVERAL MONTHS, and go to some healthy spot; neither to
a fashionable watering-place nor to a friend’s house, where much
company is kept, but to some quiet country place; if to a healthy
farm-house so much the better.
407. Early hours are quite indispensable. She ought to lie on a
horse-hair mattress, and should have but scant clothing on the bed.
She must sleep in a well-ventilated apartment. Her diet should be
light and nourishing. Gentle exercise ought to be taken, which should
alternate with frequent rest.
 408. Cold ablutions ought every morning to be used, and the body
should be afterward dried with a coarse cloth. If it be winter, let the
water be made tepid and let its temperature be gradually lowered
until it be used quite cold. A shower-bath is, in these cases,
serviceable; it braces and invigorates the system, and is one of the
best tonics that she can use.
409. If she be already pregnant it would not be admissible, as the
shock of the shower-bath would be too great, and may bring on a
miscarriage; but still she ought to continue the cold ablutions.
410. A lady who is prone to miscarry, ought, as soon as she is
pregnant, to lie down a great part of every day; she must keep her
mind calm and unruffled; she should live on a plain diet; she ought
to avoid wine and spirits and beer; she should retire early to rest,
and she must have a separate sleeping apartment. She ought as
much as possible to abstain from taking opening medicine; and if she
be actually obliged to take an aperient—for the bowels must not be
allowed to be constipated—she should select the mildest (such as
either castor oil or lenitive electuary or syrup of senna), and even of
these she ought not to take a larger dose than is absolutely necessary,
as a free action of the bowels is a frequent cause of a miscarriage.
411. The external application of castor oil as a liniment, and as
recommended at page 144, is a good and safe remedy for a patient
prone to miscarry; and if sufficiently active, is far preferable to the
mildest aperient. Another great advantage of the external application
of castor oil is, it does not afterward produce constipation as the
internal administration of castor oil is apt to do. If the external
application of castor oil in the manner advised at page 144 should
not have the desired effect, then an enema—a clyster of warm water,
a pint—ought, in the morning, two or three times a week to be
administered.
412. Gentle walking exercise daily is desirable: long walks and
horseback exercise ought to be sedulously avoided. A trip to the
coast, provided the railway journey be not very long, would be likely
to prevent a miscarriage; although I would not, on any account,
recommend such a patient either to bathe or to sail on the water, as
the shock of the former would be too great, and the motion of the
vessel and the sea-sickness would be likely to bring on what we are
anxious to avoid.
 413. As the usual period for miscarrying approaches (for it
frequently comes on at one particular time), let the patient be more
than usually careful; let her lie down the greatest part of the day; let
her mind be kept calm and unruffled; let all fashionable society and
every exciting amusement be eschewed; let both the sitting and the
sleeping apartments be kept cool and well ventilated; let the bowels
(if they be costive) be opened by an enema (if the external
application of castor oil, as before recommended, be not sufficient);
let the diet be simple and yet be nourishing; let all stimulants, such
as beer, wine, and spirits, be at this time avoided; and if there be the
slightest symptoms of an approaching miscarriage, such as pains in
the loins, in the hips, or in the lower belly, or if there be the slightest
show of blood, let a medical man be instantly sent for, as he may, at
an early period, be able to ward off the threatened mishap.

FALSE LABOR PAINS.

414. A lady, especially in her first pregnancy, is sometimes

troubled with spurious labor pains; these pains usually come on at
night, and are frequently owing to a disordered stomach. They affect
the belly, the back, and the loins; and occasionally they extend down
the hips and the thighs. They attack first one place and then another;
they come on at irregular intervals; at one time they are violent, at
another they are feeble. The pains, instead of being grinding or
bearing down, are more of a colicky nature.
415. Now, as these false pains more frequently occur in a first
pregnancy, and as they are often more violent two or three weeks
toward the completion of the full time, and as they usually come on
either at night or in the night, it behooves both the patient and the
monthly nurse to be cognizant of the fact, in order that they may not
make a false alarm and summon the doctor before he is wanted, and
when he cannot be of the slightest benefit to the patient.
416. It is sometimes stated that a woman has been in labor two or
three weeks before the child was born! Such is not the fact. The case
in question is one probably of false pains ending in true pains.
417. How, then, is the patient to know that the pains are false and
not true labor pains? False labor pains come on three or four weeks