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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
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 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:
He came to Boston seeking a publisher and found it in the Handel
and Haydn Society, which, in 1822, not only published the collection
but gave the society's name to it. It met with great success, running
through many editions. In 1826 its compiler delivered a series of
lectures in Boston churches on church music which attracted such
favorable attention that he was induced to make his home in the city.
In time he became president of the Handel and Haydn Society, and,
when the Boston Academy of Music was established, largely through
his efforts, he was put in charge of it.

At this period began a movement to reform radically our entire

system of school instruction, and the moment was propitious for the
introduction of music in the public schools, a purpose upon which Mr.
Mason had set his heart. In 1830 William C. Woodbridge delivered
before the American Institute of Instruction in Boston an address on
'Vocal Music as a Branch of Common Education,' illustrated by
Mason's pupils, in which the lecturer, recently returned from Europe,
warmly advocated the cultivation of music as an essential element of
American, as it was of foreign life. One sentence of his lecture is
startling to us of the present generation in its inferential revelation of
the primitive nature of juvenile instruction in the United States as late
as 1830. Mr. Woodbridge, speaking of music being 'the property of
the people' in Germany and Switzerland, heard in field and factory,
and in gatherings for pleasure no less than in assemblies for
worship, added: 'But we were touched to the heart when we heard
its cheering animating strains issuing from the walls of a
schoolroom.'

Mr. Woodbridge was an enthusiast over the Pestalozzian method as

applied to instruction in music. He not only collected all the literature
he could on the subject, but even translated the more important
works and turned over the entire material to Mr. Mason. This wise
teacher experimented first with the method before adopting it. The
success of the trial made him an ardent supporter of the new system
of instruction, which completely overthrew the old custom of starting
the pupil off with a complete tune and correcting defects as these
manifested themselves. The Pestalozzian method is truly the natural
one, building up, instead of patching up. This will be seen by
examining its principles:

1. To teach sounds before signs (have the pupil learn notes orally
first).

2. To lead the pupil to observe and execute differences in sound,

instead of explaining these to him, i. e., to make him active
instead of passive in learning.

3. To teach one thing at a time—rhythm, melody, expression—

instead of a selection embodying all these elements.

4. To have the pupil master each step by practice before passing to

the next.

5. To explain principles after practice (the inductive method).

6. Analysis and practice of articulation of speech in order to use it in

song.

To apply this revolutionary method to teaching music was the central

purpose of the establishment of the Boston Academy of Music. It had
a useful career during the fourteen years of its existence. Mr. Mason,
like Mr. Adgate, of Philadelphia, believed in 'music for the people,'
and his generosity in extending this without considering material
profit kept the institution in constant need of funds until it gave up the
struggle and closed its doors in 1847.

The Academy was more than a New England institution: it was a

national one, in that music teachers in every part of the country
wrote to it for guidance in their work. And it left behind it the finest of
mmorials, the establishment in Boston, and, through Boston's
example, all over the nation, of music in the public schools, not
merely as a relief from other studies, but as a study itself. This
innovation was made by the city fathers of Boston in 1837, after a
trial of the propositions had proved successful. T. Kemper Davis,
chairman of the school committee, made a long and learned report
upon the subject which is a classic of its kind, and as such may be
read with profit by teachers of music, particularly those in the public
schools.[56]

Music in the public schools of New York had an independent origin.

In 1835 Darius E. Jones experimented with the idea of forming
singing classes in the schools and teaching them without
compensation. The trial was successful, and the school board gave
him permission to continue the work provided no expense was
incurred and regular studies were not interfered with. Music in the
New York schools was not effectively recognized by provision for
compensation until 1853. T. B. Mason, the brother of Lowell Mason,
introduced singing in the public schools of Cincinnati. Pittsburgh
began such instruction in 1840. Nathaniel D. Gould, a music teacher
and composer, claimed to have been the first to teach singing to
children in a systematic method. From 1820 onward he organized
such classes in New England, New York, and New Jersey.

The recognition by municipal authority of music as an essential

element of education has been ratified in the fullest manner by
national authority. Philander P. Claxton, United States Commissioner
of Education, addressing the National Education Association
convened at St. Paul, in July, 1914, asserted that music is of more
practical value than any subject of the usual curriculum, except
reading and writing, and with these studies, and physical culture and
arithmetic, forms the fundamentals in elementary education.

While in the later thirties colleges and universities were not prepared
to grant music a place in the academic curriculum, they began to
recognize it as an important element of culture, and to extend to it
their patronage. In 1838 William Robyn, a professor in St. Louis
University, formed, under the auspices of the institution, a musical
society called the 'Philharmonic' for the performance of public
concerts. These were well patronized.[57]

IV
The German immigration was in full force in the forties, cities such as
St. Louis, Cincinnati, and Milwaukee becoming the homes of great
numbers of this music-loving people. In the broad sense of the term,
they formed the greatest educational influence in music that the
country had yet received. It is said that wherever two Germans
settled in America they organized themselves into a Sängerbund.
Tyrolese and Swiss singers and bell-ringers began to tour the
country in 1840 and delighted Americans of every class—even now
they are popular in the Chautauqua circles. However, when, lured by
the success of the jodlers, really fine German bands, such as the
Steiermarkers, Gungl's band, the Saxonia and Germania, came over
in quest of American dollars, they met with consistent failure, and
were forced to dissolve—to the great benefit of American musical
education, for the individual members generally became teachers of
instrumental music in the localities where they were stranded. It was
only by playing dance music and popular airs that the bands met
with any success whatsoever. Gungl (whose 'Railroad Galop,' an
imitative composition, was the most popular in his répertoire) wrote
home to a musical journal in Berlin that music 'lies still in the cradle
here and nourishes herself on sugar-teats.'

The sentimental strain in German vocal music of the period made it

more popular than German instrumental music, in that the American
palate had been prepared for sentimentality by a saccharine sort of
psalmody and secular music which was being sprinkled over the
country by a second generation of Yankee music teachers of the
Billings order. Elijah K. Prouty and Moses E. Cheney were leading
representatives of this class. Prouty was a peddler, singing teacher,
and piano tuner. Cheney was a leader of a church choir. In 1839 they
organized and conducted a musical 'convention' at Montpelier, Vt., at
which, with shrewd perception of popular interest in novelty and
variety, they practised 'unusual tunes, anthems, male quartets, and
duets and solos for both sexes.' For the secular music they used the
'Boston Glee Book and Social Choir,' compiled by George Kingsley.
In order to attract the attendance of non-musical people, in the
intervals between performances short debates were held between
the local ministers, lawyers, and other prominent citizens.
In May, 1848, another musical convention was held in Chicago,
which discussed the general question of musical education and the
specific one of music in the public schools. Four years later William
B. Bradbury led a similar but larger convention. At this convention
the 'Alpine Glee Singer,' a compilation by Bradbury, was used for
secular music, indicating the strong influence which the elementary
sentimentality of German popular music exerted upon Americans.
Sugared American psalmody, flavored with German sentimentality,
and colored with a crudity of technique almost aboriginal produced
that sort of musical candy which we know as the Sunday-school
song. Bradbury was a pioneer in the composition and publication of
such music, although, to do him justice, the especially deleterious
coloring of the mixture was added by his successors, among whom
Ira D. Sankey and P. P. Bliss may be mentioned as chief offenders.
The collections of this school of musical composers must be
reckoned by thousands in editions and millions in numbers of copies.
Bradbury alone compiled more than fifty singing books, containing
many of his own compositions. Of these collections 'The Jubilee,'
published in 1857, sold 200,000 copies; 'Fresh Laurels' (1867),
1,200,000 copies; and a series known as the 'Golden Series,'
2,000,000 copies.

This flood of sentimentality, completely inundating the Sunday-

school, poured into the public school, and almost swamped the ark
of juvenile education in music which careful hands had just
committed to that great stream of popular culture. When music
became recognized as an essential element of education, it was
inevitable that the only available juvenile songs, those of the
Sunday-school, should be introduced in the public schools. Indeed,
the singing of anything in the schools was preferable to the entire
absence of song, and so this order of music, representing, as it did,
the popular taste of the time, marks, although we are loath to say it,
an important step forward.

Dr. Lowell Mason was the chief assistant at an event which marks an
epoch in American musical education, namely, the birth of the
normal musical institute from the so-called musical convention. This
occurred in 1856 at North Reading, Mass., where an annual musical
convention of the usual sort was converted into a school of a
fortnight's duration for instructing its members, particularly teachers,
in both musical theory and practice. The example was followed all
over the country to the great benefit of musical pedagogy.
Associated with Dr. Mason in this work of popularizing music was
George F. Root, who journeyed over the country conducting
conventions, lecturing, etc.[58]

V
During the second half of the nineteenth century the teaching of
music passed in large measure from the hands of single,
independent teachers into the direction of music masters associated
in institutions for class instruction, which are generally known as
conservatories, although this term in its European signification of a
large, completely equipped and nationally endowed school of music
is misleading. Indeed, the pretense seems to have been deliberate.
Dr. Frank Damrosch, in an address on 'The American Conservatory,'
before the Music Teachers' National Association at Oberlin, Ohio, in
1906, said:

'The so-called conservatory, college, or university of music ... may

be found in every American community.... It is usually organized
by an individual whose commercial instincts are stronger than his
musical conscience, and who, banking on the dense ignorance of
the average citizen in matters of art, offers what seems to be a
great bargain in the acquisition of musical ability in one form or
another.... There are many such schools which seemingly flourish
by the glittering, if empty, promises which they advertise. Some of
them confer degrees; ... one of the first musical doctor degrees
conferred by the director of one of these schools was on himself!'

While there are hundreds of conservatories of the class described by

Dr. Damrosch scattered over the Union, a number of institutions are
to be found which rank in thoroughness and comprehensiveness of
instruction with the best European conservatories. These have been
in every instance of slow growth, the most pretentious in chartered
plans having made early and signal failures in the province of
musical education, though some of them won success in other
musical activities. A typical example of this order is the Academy of
Music of New York, whose career is recorded in Chapter VI.

The earliest American conservatory worthy of its name is the

Conservatory of Music of the Peabody Institute, Baltimore, which
was founded in 1857. Its chief contribution to American musical
education has been the Peabody concerts, a series of eight
performances having been given annually since 1865. From 1872 to
1898 Asger Hamerick, the Danish composer, was director. He
organized an orchestra of fifty performers, which became, under his
intelligent training, a highly efficient instrument for the rendition of the
most advanced music. The programs of his concerts were formed of
overtures, symphonies, concertos, suites, and vocal solos. He gave
especial attention to works by American, English, and Scandinavian
composers, performing for the first time in America many notable
compositions, among them a number of his own. The good work of
the Peabody concerts, attracting, as it has done, the respectful
attention of foreign masters, should be a matter both of
encouragement and pride to those who have the cause of American
music at heart. It points the way to high attainment in our musical
appreciation and notable achievement in native composition.

The year of 1867 is notable in American musical history for the

establishment of five leading conservatories or musical colleges: the
New England Conservatory in Boston; the Boston Conservatory; the
Cincinnati Conservatory; the Oberlin Conservatory; and the Chicago
Academy of Music, later known as the Chicago Musical College.

The New England Conservatory was founded by Eben Tourjée,

whom Sir George Grove, in his 'Dictionary of Music and Musicians,'
denominates the 'father of the conservatory or class system of
instruction in America.' The nature of this system and its advantages
have been well expressed by Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, who
said: 'The class system has the advantage over the private
instruction of the individual in that, by the participation of several in
the same lessons and studies, a true feeling is awakened; and in
that it promotes industry, spurs to emulation, and is a preservative
from one-sidedness of education and taste.'

Dr. Tourjée, in 1851, at the age of seventeen, formed classes at his

home, Fall River, Mass., for instruction in vocal and instrumental
music. In 1859 he founded a musical institute at East Greenwich,
where he greatly developed his method. In 1863 he visited Europe to
gain information concerning the conduct of European conservatories,
and upon the ideas thus secured he established the Providence
Conservatory of Music, and in 1867 the New England Conservatory
of Music in Boston. For a time he conducted both schools, then
devoted himself exclusively to the latter. From its beginning the
Boston institution secured the best masters available and gave a
maximum of musical instruction at a minimum of cost. It has sent
forth over the country thousands of accomplished pianists, organists,
and vocalists, and, what is even more pertinent to the present
subject, music teachers, trained in Tourjée's methods. After the
founder died (in 1890), Carl Faelten acted as director, until in 1897
he founded a school of his own for instruction in the piano. No school
of its kind stands higher in America.

In 1897 George W. Chadwick, the professor of harmony,

composition, and orchestration, was made director of the New
England Conservatory. For several years Mr. Chadwick had
conducted the annual musical festivals at Springfield and Worcester,
Mass., and his special attention was thereby directed toward great
orchestral and choral performances by the students, whose number
was mounting into the thousands. By the generosity of patrons of the
Conservatory, especially Eben D. Jordan, president of the trustees, a
large building was erected in 1902, containing facilities for instruction
superior even to those of European conservatories, and an
auditorium, Jordan Hall, whose large size and fine acoustic
properties render it one of the important concert halls of the country,
use as such being frequently made of it by visiting artists, to the
great advantage of the students as well as the general public. The
instrumental equipment of the conservatory is large, the collection of
organs, including the pipe organ in Jordan Hall, which is one of the
largest in the world, being especially notable.

The conservatory possesses one of the best working musical

libraries in the country, a unique feature being the choral library of
the Boylston Club (founded 1872) and its successor, the Boston
Singers, which contains many copies of manuscript treasures in
European collections. This library was a gift to the conservatory by
George L. Osgood. The Boston Public Library nearby contains the
Allen A. Brown collection of musical books and manuscripts, which is
excelled in America only by the Congressional Library at
Washington. Accordingly, the pupils of the conservatory have at
hand every facility for acquiring a musical education which the most
ardent student could desire. It is not surprising that among its three
thousand and more students every one of the forty-eight states of
the Union is represented, as well as a dozen foreign countries, even
distant Russia and Turkey.

The curriculum of the conservatory has been generally described by

Frederick W. Colburn in 'The Musical Observer' for July, 1913. Mr.
Colburn, after mentioning special features, such as the conservatory
orchestra of seventy-five members, affording the training and routine
indispensable to professional performers whose ranks it is annually
supplying, says: 'While the new is studied, the fundamentals are not
lost sight of. All the courses have been planned to avoid turning out
narrow and one-sided specialists. The management realizes that the
professional musician has need of very broad and very correct
culture. The students listen to lectures on the history and theory of
music from such authorities as Louis C. Elson and Wallace
Goodrich. The modern languages and English diction are taught by
experts, several of whom are authors of their own text-books. The
pianoforte instruction follows approved methods; it shows much of
the influence of the late Carl Baermann, one of the most eminent of
the German musicians who have settled in this country. The vocal
instruction is along the lines of the old Italian method which has
formed the voices of most of the world's great singers. The teaching
of the organ accords with the practice of the best German and
French organists. In all departments there is present the idea of
thoroughly grounding the student in the essentials of musical art and
of avoiding easy, ready-made and get-culture-quick methods.'

The Boston Conservatory, second in the list of five founded in 1867,

was organized by Julius Eichberg, a distinguished German violinist
and composer, who had been, since 1859, director of the orchestra
at the Boston Museum. This speedily won and long maintained a
high reputation, particularly for instruction in the violin, on which
subject Eichberg prepared a number of valuable text-books.

The Cincinnati Conservatory of Music was founded by Clara Bauer,

who still is active in its management, having charge of the home for
the female pupils. This was the first conservatory in the country to
establish a residence department—indeed, its group of buildings and
park-like grounds give the conservatory a truly academic aspect
possessed by few institutions of its kind that are situated in cities.
Miss Bauer, however, recognized from the beginning that the all-
important element of a conservatory was its teaching force. She
secured representative talent in the various branches of music from
the various European musical centres, thereby securing warm
approbation of the institution from foreign musical artists and critics.
The faculty now numbers sixty members; it contains artists notable
for excellence in every branch of musical arts and pedagogy.
General cultural studies, such as dramatic art, literature, and modern
languages, are conducted with special application to their relation to
music.

The Cincinnati Conservatory was the first to conduct a summer

music school. The sessions have been uninterrupted since 1867.
Attended largely by music teachers, they have greatly advanced the
cause of musical education in the territory tributary to the city.

The Oberlin Conservatory of Music, at Oberlin, presents so many

object lessons of musical pedagogy that it demands rather extended
treatment here.
In the first place, the institution had a natural origin: it was formed to
teach psalmody to a religious community and, in growing beyond this
limited field by adding one musical feature after another as the
developing taste of the people demanded, it typifies the history of
music in the nation. Secondly, the conservatory has a proper
environment. It was planted in a soil already enriched by culture,
Oberlin being the seat of a college distinguished for progressive
ideas and high ideals, the reaction of which upon musical work is
always inspiring—indeed, is essential to the highest achievement.
Thirdly, the Oberlin Conservatory has a proper organization. It is a
social democracy and thereby calculated to produce that free and
fraternal spirit which is the soul of art. Young men and women meet
on equal terms and there are no distinctions among them based on
wealth or nationality or even race, Oberlin having been the first
college to include negroes among its students. Lastly, the
conservatory has a sound program and is living up to this as well as
could be expected in view of the pressure exerted on all 'schools of
the people,' to supply immediate demands. It believes in constructive
work, in learning by doing. Thus it regards a practical knowledge of
the science of musical composition as necessary to an intelligent
appreciation of musical masterpieces, and to this end has
established a course in theory and composition which requires four
years of hard study and assiduous practice. The class system of
instruction is the one adopted as the chief method, it being
supplemented by private instruction.

Dr. Florens Ziegfeld, a distinguished German pianist, still conducts

(1915) the conservatory which he founded in Chicago—the last of
the five started in 1867—under the name of the Chicago Academy of
Music, and which is now called the Chicago Musical College. The
institution was burned out in the great fire of 1871, but with
indomitable courage Dr. Ziegfeld at once secured new quarters and
continued his classes. The course of study was steadily enlarged
until now it includes every department of music and the principal
modern languages, the faculty being one of the strongest in the
country, comparing favorably with those of European conservatories.
By authority of the State of Illinois the college grants music teachers'
certificates and confers musical degrees. The college is finely
situated on Michigan Boulevard, overlooking Lake Michigan and
Grant Park. It contains a concert hall seating 1,000. A student
orchestra of seventy members is maintained, affording practical
training in conducting and ensemble playing.

In 1871 a conservatory of music was established in Jacksonville, Ill.,

the seat of Illinois College. Its founder was Professor W. D. Sanders,
a leading Western educator, and its first director was I. B. Poznanski,
a violinist and composer who later became instructor at the Royal
Conservatory, London. In 1903 the conservatory was merged with
the college. The Cleveland Conservatory of Music was also founded
in 1871. It adopted the European conservatory method of instruction.

In 1873 Northwestern University at Evanston, Ill., became a co-

educational institution and at once established a 'Conservatory of
Music' that began, and for many years thereafter remained, on a low
plane of instruction. The university authorities, in the manner of old-
time monarchs, 'farmed out' to the director of the conservatory the
privilege of running the business for a percentage of the receipts,
and gave him a free hand and full responsibility. Naturally the
conservatory was conducted in a way to produce the greatest
immediate returns.

In 1891 Prof. P. C. Lutkin was put in charge of the conservatory. He

insisted that the title be dropped and that the school be made a
department of the university, directly under control of the university
authorities; and that its director should receive a full professorship
with a fixed salary, in order that educational ideals should not be
compromised by financial considerations. These changes were
authorized, and Professor Lutkin radically revised and extended the
curriculum to make it conform to academic standards. By 1895 a
four-years course was developed, to correspond with that of the
Liberal Arts department. The 'Department of Music' then assumed
the title of 'School of Music' and became a coördinate division of the
university, like the School of Law, the School of Mines, etc., with its
own dean and faculty. Its pupils, of course, retained all the
opportunities for general culture afforded by the college of Liberal
Arts.

In an address delivered before the Music Teachers' National

Association at Oberlin in 1906, Professor Lutkin said: 'The exact
point where general education should give way to the study of music
is a much discussed one, and we will not stop to consider it here,
except to say that we have placed it at the point of entrance-
requirements in the College of Liberal Arts. The fact that the students
are able to pursue advanced work in history of music, harmony,
counterpoint, analysis, etc., is of itself a clear index as to their mental
capacity, and places them, without doubt, upon a plane of mentality
quite up to that required of college students.' The music department
of the Northwestern University now ranks with the best
conservatories in the country.

Concerts have always formed the leading element in developing

American appreciation of music. The enthusiasm created by the
festivals conducted in Cincinnati by Theodore Thomas in the early
seventies led directly to the establishment in 1878 of the Cincinnati
College of Music by Miss Dora Nelson. The institution was planned
along the lines of European conservatories, with a close relation to
superior public performances in the city, the patrons of which were
patrons of the college. With a fine faculty the institution has retained
to the present the high reputation it won at the outset. Theodore
Thomas was the first musical director of the school, and among his
successors is Frank Van der Stucken.

Of the important Chicago schools of music the earliest was the

Chicago Conservatory, established in 1884. Quite a typical institution
is the American Conservatory of Chicago. It was founded in 1886 by
its present head, President John J. Hattstaedt, with the assistance of
several of Chicago's music-loving citizens. Its quarters were in
Weber Hall Building, corner of Wabash Avenue and Jackson Street,
which were retained for ten years, when the conservatory was
removed to the adjoining building—Kimball Hall, where it still
remains.

From a small institution it has grown to be one of America's largest

schools of music, registering about 2,000 students annually. The
faculty numbers seventy-five, and contains many teachers of
national reputation. A modern and thorough curriculum includes all
branches of instrumental and vocal music, theory and composition,
dramatic art, expression, physical culture, and modern languages.
Special features are: a complete and well-established Normal
School, a student's orchestra, a musical bureau and a carefully
arranged series of faculty and pupils' recitals.

In 1885 two conservatories, the American Institute of Applied Music

and the National Conservatory of Music, were established in New
York. Miss Kate S. Chittenden was the founder of the Institute, Mrs.
Jeannette M. Thurber of the Conservatory. Both are flourishing to-
day under control of the founders and with excellent faculties and
ample musical facilities.

The National Conservatory, because of certain philanthropic

features, is deserving of special mention as a type of institution
which is not wholly commercial in its ends, and which has prepared
the way for a type that is purely artistic in its purposes. It offers
musical instruction to every applicant without regard to race, sex, or
creed, the sole condition being that he shall give proof of a natural
talent for music; this instruction it imparts without cost to those
unable to pay.

The title of National Conservatory is formally justified by the fact that

it was chartered in 1891 by a special act of Congress, the official
home being designated as Washington. A far better claim to the title
could be based on the facts that names of even more than national
fame appear on the roll of its faculty from the beginning, when such
musicians as Rafael Joseffy, Camilla Urso, and Victor Herbert were
connected with the institution, down through Dvořák's brilliant régime
to the present day.
The Conservatory at its outset secured experts in special lines of
music as instructors. For three years (1892-95) Dr. Antonin Dvořák
was its director. Under his management liberal prizes were awarded
for original compositions, and the works, a symphony by Henry
Schoenefeld, a piano concerto by Joshua Phillen, a suite for string
orchestra by Frederick Bullard, and a cantata by Horatio W. Parker,
were performed in public concert. Under the direction of the
distinguished composer the National Conservatory orchestra
became notable not only for artistic excellence, but, what pertains
more to the present subject, for the superior training it afforded poor
young men of talent, and the places this enabled them to obtain in
leading American orchestras. This work, of course, did not cease
with Dr. Dvořák's retirement.

An institution incorporating in a systematic and substantial way the

public and philanthropic spirit which has called into existence so
many of our conservatories and schools of music is the Institute of
Musical Art of the City of New York. This is the model institution of its
kind in America; and, as there is promise that its example will be
followed in other cities of the Union, leading to the establishment of
musical education on a high and uniform plane, it deserves special
notice.

Recognizing that schools of music, inaugurated with fine ideals and

a sound program to attain these, have almost without exception
been forced by the need of funds to lower their standard and modify
their curricula to suit the popular demand for easy and flashy
courses, Dr. Frank Damrosch determined to found an institution
wherein commercial considerations would not enter. In James Loeb,
a New York banker, he found a patron of art in thorough sympathy
with the project. By a fund of a half million dollars, given in memory
of his mother, Betty Loeb, Mr. Loeb put the splendid idea into
concrete form, and in 1905 established and endowed the Institute of
Musical Art with Dr. Damrosch as its director.

The purpose of the Institute is to provide thorough and

comprehensive courses in music, each of which is planned to
include every study necessary for mastering a particular branch of
music, and all of which taken together cover the whole art. The
Institute is enabled to execute this plan inflexibly because it is
independent of tuition fees, since the revenue from these is
supplemented by the interest of the funds. Accordingly the fees have
been fixed at moderate and uniform rates, while no expense is
spared in securing the best talent available as a teaching and
training force.

The roll of the faculty contains seventy-seven names. The faculty

council which directs the policy of the Institute consists of the director
and five other experts. Since operatic and concert managers agree
that individual instruction and criticism cannot be too carefully given
in the case of students intending to make the performance of music
a profession, and, as this thorough system of education is equally
beneficial to the amateur, it has been adopted by the Institute.
Theoretical subjects are the only ones taught in class.

In addition to the direct personal teaching which the student

receives, he is surrounded by artistic and educational influences
calculated to broaden his general knowledge and culture and to
improve his taste and discrimination. The discipline which is an
essential principle of the Institute, and which is lacking in private
instruction, where the pupil often demands and obtains relaxing
modifications of the instructor's system to suit his inclinations, since
he is paying for his education, is of the highest value in developing
character. Students of an art which in its nature tends to
overstimulate the emotional nature need a corrective cultivation of
the powers of the intellect and the will which students of other
subjects do not so much require, since, from their studies,
intellectual development is acquired directly and, reason being the
governor of the will, control of this great moral force is indirectly
imparted.

Like the National Conservatory the Institute is open to students of

both sexes, irrespective of creed or race. The only demand is that
they give proof of general intelligence, musical ability and serious
purpose. Every regular student is required to follow a prescribed
course not only in the specific branch which he has selected, but, in
order to provide a proper foundation for this, in the subject of music
in general. The student begins the course at the stage for which his
attainments and abilities have prepared him, as these are indicated
by three tests: as to his general knowledge of music; as to his sense
of musical hearing; as to his vocal or instrumental talent.

The departments of study are singing, piano, organ, stringed

instruments, orchestra, public school music and theoretic course.
The courses are divided into seven grades, the last four being post-
graduate. The post-graduate diplomas are of two types, called
teachers' and artists'. For the teachers' diploma two grades of
pedagogy and advanced work in theory and technique are required;
for the artists', either two or three grades in theory, technique, and
ear training, according to the proficiency of the student, which is
tested not only by work done in the Institute, but by a public recital
before musicians not connected with the Institute. The work of the
seventh grade in the artists' course is confined to the study of
composition in the various forms of complete sonata, chamber
music, vocal forms, overture and orchestration. A prize sufficient to
provide for a year of European life and experience is given annually
to that graduate in any of the artists' courses, or in composition,
whom the faculty and trustees think most deserving of the award and
distinction.

The leading schools of music in Canada are the Toronto

Conservatory of Music and the Conservatorium of Music in McGill
University at Montreal.

The Toronto Conservatory was founded by the late Dr. Fisher in

1886 and opened in 1887. In the thoroughness of its courses and the
completeness of its equipment it ranks with the best conservatories
in Europe. In 1897 it purchased its present centrally located site, in
close proximity to the cluster of educational and public buildings, and
began the erection of the structures which now form its commodious
home. Its music hall is architecturally one of the finest edifices of the
kind and its auditorium is acoustically one of the most satisfactory
halls in Canada for chamber music and other recitals. It contains a
three-manual concert organ which is a masterpiece of Canadian
workmanship. The main hall is supplemented by smaller ones for
lectures and recitals and by practice rooms equipped with two-
manual organs. The musical equipment in general is ample and
comprehensive, meeting the needs of the 2,500 pupils in
attendance.

On the death of Dr. Fisher in 1913, Dr. A. S. Vogt, whose work as

conductor of the Mendelssohn Choir of Toronto is well known, and
who had been for many years teacher of piano in the Conservatory,
was advanced to the position of director. The faculty consists of 139
professors and instructors. It is almost exclusively British in
composition, in striking contrast to the faculties of leading
conservatories in the United States, on whose roll Continental
European names abound, often to the point of a majority. However,
many of the instructors have received their education at foreign
conservatories.

The Conservatory is divided into eleven departments, schools for the

piano, the voice, the organ, the violin, and other stringed
instruments, theoretical instruction, embracing harmony,
counterpoint, composition, orchestration, musical history and
acoustics, orchestral and band music, expression (including
education, physical culture, etc.), modern languages, piano tuning,
and kindergarten music method. The extremely practical elements of
this curriculum indicate the attention paid to the fundamental needs
of the public.

The Conservatory maintains an orchestra for practice in routine and

training for students sufficiently advanced to justify their assignment
to places in the organization. Frank E. Blatchford, of the violin
faculty, who is also concert master of the Toronto Symphony
Orchestra, is the conductor.
The Conservatory is affiliated with its near neighbor, the University of
Toronto. Students who pass the conservatory examinations in
musical theory are exempted from corresponding examinations by
the University for the degree of Bachelor of Music. In its desire to
spread at least a measure of musical knowledge and appreciation
among the people, the conservatory conducts correspondence
courses in musical theory, and, for the convenience of practice,
especially in the piano, maintains eleven branches in the outlying
residential districts of Toronto.

The McGill University Conservatorium was opened in 1904. The

Conservatorium, however, was then only in its experimental stage
and it was not until October, 1908, that the connecting link between
the University and the Conservatorium was completed by the
appointment as director of Dr. Harry Crane Perrin, professor of music
in the University. In 1909 the orchestra was formed, which was
composed of students of the Conservatorium, and in February of that
year they gave their first orchestral concert.

VI
Henry Dike Sleeper, professor of music in Smith College, a women's
college of the first rank, has made an interesting analysis of the
character of musical instruction given in the leading universities and
colleges where the subject is taught. He says that there are four
ideals of study:

1. Musical composition: Great emphasis is laid on this at the

University of Pennsylvania, and it is a predominant, though lesser
element in the schemes of Harvard and Yale.

2. Public performance: This is the chief feature of education in the

conservatories affiliated with, but not a part of the regular academic
course. These conservatories are founded largely in the West and
South, and are connected with colleges that either are for women or
are co-educational.
3. Culture: Amherst, Beloit, Cornell, and Tufts are examples of
institutions where the music courses tend chiefly to imparting
musical appreciation.

4. A balance of the three: composition, concerts, culture. Examples

of where this ideal of rounded development is sought for are the
women's colleges, Smith and Mount Holyoke, and co-educational
institutions, such as Oberlin and Ohio Wesleyan, and the State
Universities of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Nebraska.

In the light they throw on the status of musical education in American

universities the following authoritative statistics, the latest of the kind
compiled, are illuminating:

In a monograph on 'Music Instruction in the United States,' prepared

by Arthur L. Manchester after exhaustive inquiry and published by
the United States Bureau of Education in 1908, the enrollment of
students of music in 151 colleges and universities was 18,971, of
whom 5,257 were men and 13,714 were women. There was an
average attendance in each institution of about 125.

Dr. Rudolf Tombo, registrar of Columbia University, in an article in

'Science' for December 25, 1908, and January 1, 1909, stated that
from statistics supplied him by twenty-five leading universities, not
counting summer schools conducted under their auspices, ten had
departments of music and five had courses of music. In a total
attendance in all departments of all the twenty-five universities
amounting to 35,885, the students of music numbered 1,940, which
is only 5.4 per cent. of the total.

When the great popular interest in music, as exhibited by the

attendance at operas, concerts, and musical festivals, is taken into
consideration, this low percentage would indicate that the
universities are not adopting attractive methods of musical
instruction. Evidently the cause of higher musical education will be
more readily served by improving the character of instruction in the
conservatories, where enthusiasm among the students prevails, than