World News Insights
1-3 Minute Gist
Search, personalize, or simply browse. Follow the world around you from gist and context to insights.
Who we are | Our Credo | Ways of using Lyrarc | FAQ | Send Feedback | First Letter From the Editor
Sign up. It's free and easy to use
Create an account
to personalize your feed of articles and topics.
All Topics Article
China Plows Ahead With Modern Farming as American Tariffs Drive Up Crop Costs
Tags: Current Focus, China, Food,
China's agriculture based on small farms is undergoing a change as the government pushes automated farming and large farms in the face of limited imports from the U.S. China put tariffs on agricultural imports from the U.S. in retaliation for U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports. China's Agriculture Ministry says it will build 254 "strong agricultural industrial towns" as models for the country. President Xi stated on a visit to northeastern province Heilongjiang, that "unilateralism and trade protectionism are rising, forcing us to take the road of self reliance."
The yield per hectare in the U.S. for soybeans is about twice that in China.
Mechanized farming is limited in China because it would eliminate many jobs in rural areas. As the state has ownership of land and farmers merely use land, farmers are less likely to take risks with large long term investments. It can be risky for farmers to rent their land use rights to others, which would lead to consolidation.
Now a separate "Made in 2025" plan makes upgrading farm machinery and equipment one of the 10 goals. China may lift ban on genetically modified seeds now that ChemChina has acquired Swiss seed company Syngenta. China plans to partner with Asian Development Bank to provide $6 billion of loans, grants and investment to fund a list of development projects in rural areas, to modernize agriculture. WSJ cites a project of consolidation into an 8200 acre farm in Shandong province that has increased yields 43% by investing in new farm equipment and planting machines, pesticide spraying drones. Scaling up has made this possible.
Urbanization and China's problems in 2010- 2015 with migrant workers, the "hukou" system and the need for agricultural land
02/03/2009
Grouped Articles
Beijing Puzzles Over Urban Growth
Wall Street Journal 05/09/2013
China’s Vision for a ‘New’ Urbanization
Wall Street Journal 05/09/2013
Wall Street Journal 09/26/2011
Chinaâs Great Uprooting: Moving 250 Million Into Cities
New York Times 06/15/2013
The Demanding Off-Hour Escapes of Chinaâs High-Tech Workers
New York Times 07/16/2013
China's Gleaming Ghost Cities Draw Neither Jobs Nor People
Wall Street Journal 08/08/2013
Agriculture in China.
09/04/2010
Grouped Articles
Wall Street Journal 09/04/2010
BusinessWeek 04/28/2011
China's Hunger for Corn Turns Market on Ear
Wall Street Journal 07/09/2011
China Turns Predominantly Urban
Wall Street Journal 01/18/2012
China Plows Ahead With Modern Farming as American Tariffs Drive Up Crop Costs
WSJ 11/19/2018
Cadmium contaminated rice in China in 2013
01/01/2009
Details of a soil survey across China are not released by a Chinese Environment Ministry. Independent estimates from Nanjing Agricultural University from a 2007-2008 survey found about 10% of rice in China being contaminated by high levels of cadmium. Rice samples from markets in Guangzhou taken in May 2013 were found to be contaminated with cadmium. Lax enforcement of environmental laws during the period of rapid industrialization of the last 2 decades have left lasting damage to China's land and rivers.
Grouped Articles
China Seeks to Calm Anxiety Over Rice
Wall Street Journal 05/22/2013
Cadmium-Tainted Rice Discovered in Southern China
New York Times 05/21/2013
Wall Street Journal 05/22/2013
Chinese Search for Infant Formula Goes Global
New York Times 07/25/2013
Pollution Rising, Chinese Fear for Soil and Food
New York Times 12/30/2013
New York Times 04/04/2014
Access to clean water for drinking and for agriculture in the rural economy of developing countries.
11/22/2006
The situation in India and China and developing countries. The significance of clean water supplies for farmers and people in the rural areas.
Grouped Articles
India and China Play Down Border Tensions
Wall Street Journal 05/21/2013
âAn Uncertain Glory,â by Jean Drèze and Amartya Sen
New York Times 09/06/2013
If You Think Chinaâs Air Is Bad ...
New York Times 11/07/2013
Pollution in China's Tai Lake worse despite national push for environmentalism
Washington Post 10/29/2010
New York Times 04/04/2014
In Rural India, Hoping for Jobs and Education in a Growing Economy
New York Times 03/16/2015
Industrial use of agricultural land and pressure on agricultural production in China
04/28/2011
Till 1995 China was self sufficient in soyabeans. Now it imports 57 million tons of soyabeans. Increasing imports from China are increasing pressure on grain prices.
Grouped Articles
Wall Street Journal 09/26/2011
Chinaâs Great Uprooting: Moving 250 Million Into Cities
New York Times 06/15/2013
Beijing to Make It Easier to Bet the Farm
Wall Street Journal 11/22/2013
BusinessWeek 04/28/2011
China's Hunger for Corn Turns Market on Ear
Wall Street Journal 07/09/2011
China's Food-Price Indigestion
Wall Street Journal 09/22/2011
Agricultural Bank of China
06/08/2010
Grouped Articles
Chinaâs Sovereign Wealth Fund Buys Shares in Major Banks
New York Times 10/10/2011
Agricultural Bank of China Profit Rises
Wall Street Journal 08/28/2013
China Think Tank Offers Reform Wish List
Wall Street Journal 10/30/2013
AgBank Sticks to Its Target for IPO
Wall Street Journal 06/08/2010
Wall Street Journal 06/30/2010
The Upside to AgBank’s Bad Debt
Wall Street Journal 07/02/2010
Tom Orlik on wealth distribution in China and why increasing consumer spending would require higher incomes for the lower middle class and rural households
01/07/2010
Orlik cites a study by a Chinese university which shows 10% of the households has over 80% of the wealth, and over 50% of the households have little or no savings. This suggests that there is not much room to increase consumer spending on education, healthcare, and consumer goods for these households as incomes are too low. This may account for the insecurity felt by a large majority of households about the future. It also shows that rebalancing the global economy would require rebalancing within China, reducing inequality and improving incomes for the middle class to increase consumer spending.
Grouped Articles
Wall Street Journal 07/01/2013
The Slowing of Two Economic Giants
New York Times 07/14/2013
Wall Street Journal 07/15/2013
New York Times 12/18/2011
Survey in China Shows a Wide Gap in Income
New York Times 07/19/2013
Wall Street Journal 11/06/2013
Rural India a rising tide- a comparison with China.
11/22/2006
Experts say rural India is doing much better than rural China. It is a big part of the Indian story and has the potential to give a big boost to growth as India's modernization picks up pace in rural areas.
Grouped Articles
Angry young Indians: What a waste
Economist 05/16/2013
In Rural India, Hoping for Jobs and Education in a Growing Economy
New York Times 03/16/2015
Questions and Answers: M.S. Swaminathan
Wall Street Journal 08/13/2009
Wall Street Journal 07/02/2009
China's New Cultural Revolution
Wall Street Journal 10/09/2009
BusinessWeek 10/09/2009
We took a different way to help millions around the world build educated informed mindsets that affects and shapes their lives. For a future that is open, global and digital, with everyone having access to high quality information. We believe in the renewal of America, renewal of Europe, the renewal of India, the rest of Asia, Latin America and Africa. The renewal of our supply chains, health, education, infrastructure, as we rebuild our countries after the pandemic. Literacy and knowledge we believe cannot thrive and grow in a world of web bots, web crawlers, or AI. This requires human curiosity, human learning, and human imagination. We take as inspiration the saying- “One has to be free, and as broad as sky. One has to have a mind that is crystal clear, only then can truth shine in it.” Every contribution whether big or small is precious- in this crisis and ahead.
Support Lyrarc from as small as $1
Terms and Conditions | Copyright Policy | Privacy Policy | Contact Us