1.
Farmers
Do people that work in
the Ag. industry take pride in their work as farmers in America do? Are people
encouraged to pursue careers in agriculture?
No. In China, there is a
social stigma with farmers. Farmers are considered as dirty, poor, and less
educated, with low social status.
2.
Small-scale
farm.
What percentage of farms
are still small-scale? How much of the countries’ agricultural output is done
in totally vs. small farms?
China currently relies
heavily on small-scale farms. The statistics from Ministry of Agriculture
(2013) show that the number of farmers working in large-scale farm accounts for
0.28% of the total farmers. The large-scale farms account for 7.3% of the total
arable area, and the grains output in large farms accounts for 12.7% of the
total grains output.
3.
Does
the government have a big say in what agricultural crops are grown?
No. Our government did
so in the past (before 1978) when our economic structure was planned economy.
At that time, government did make the decision of what crops and how many
should be grown. 1978 witnessed the economic marketing reform. Under current
system, farmers today have the right to plan their farm work. Now China’s
economic system is “communist marking economic system”. In my opinion, it is
actually in the middle way between marketing economy and planned economy. In
ordinary area, we have the right to make our own decision, but in some
important areas which are highly related to national security, such as
petroleum, communication and bank, our government is the controller.
4.
Since
women make up a high percentage of farm labor, are there education programs
that focus on women?
Yes. China National Women’s Federation has since 1989
organized activities entitled “Literacy Education for Women” and “Competition
in Learning Knowledge and Technique”, which enabled a large number of illiterate
women to become literate. According to the statistics, by the end of 2004, more
than 20 million illiterate women had become literate; nearly 100 million women
had mastered one or two applied techniques for production; 2.4 million women
had got rid of poverty; 15 million women had attended the courses offered by
Correspondence Agricultural University and Agricultural Broadcast School; over
600,000 women had got the academic title of “agricultural technician”; and a
large number of women had made outstanding contributions to the development of
local economy.
5. It is estimated that by 2020, there will be 30 million more men than
women, how do you think it will affect the agricultural production?
Although generally China has more men than women, actually more women stay
in rural areas than men do. There are 150-200 million migrant workers who leave
from rural areas to cities, and 2/3 are men. Now, the female labor accounts for
60-70% in agriculture. What our government concerns is that in rural areas
women are less educated and less skilled than men, so the feminization of
agriculture would make the agricultural activities less efficient. Therefore
now there are more education programs focusing on women in rural areas.
6. Machinery. Why are tractors or mechanical tools not used as frequently in
production of Ag. products? Are farmers adapting to mechanical farming or
sticking to traditional methods?
Less mechanical tools are used in China for many reasons. 1. Machinery
manufacturing technology level is still fall behind. 2. Farmers’ income in
rural areas is so low that they cannot afford expensive machine. 3. Most farms
are small-scale where farmers can manage it without using machine. Besides, I’m
not sure if this is related to culture. From my observation, I found that
Americans use machines and tools more frequently in every aspect than Chinese
do. We rarely use machine if we can do by our hands.
Currently most farmers are still sticking to traditional methods, although
government is trying to improve the degree of mechanization. I think China
still has a long way to go.
7. What’s your personal experience with agriculture? Are any of your family
members involved in Ag?
I don’t have much experience with agriculture. My grandma and uncle used
to live in a small village and I just visited them in summer vacations. I
remember when I was young, they rent some land to grow tea, vegetables, fruits
and chicken, and I would help them with a little farm work. After I went to
high school, my uncle became one of those migrant workers leaving from the
small village to the city.
8. Migrant worker. What about the income levels of factory workers? Can they
sustainably support their family? Do many families leave together from rural
areas to urban areas?
I cannot tell an exact number of the factory workers’ income, because it
varies significantly between different cities. However, I’m sure the income of
migrant workers is lower than other workers in urban areas. Although their
income is lower than others, it is still higher than the money from doing
agricultural activities in rural areas, so they can sustainably support their
family. Most families did not leave together. The reasons are complicated. We
have household registration system (Hukou in Chinese), which requires citizens
to register as permanent residents in their usual place of abode and the local
government only provides residents who have local hukou with welfare. Migrant
workers who come to cities generally do not have urban hukou, so they are
actually deprived of housing, health care, education etc. I believe this is the
main reason most migrant workers do not take their children and family with
them to urban cities.
