IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v10y2018i6p1776-d149495.html

The Sustainability of Agricultural Development in China: The Agriculture–Environment Nexus

Author

Listed:
  • Jialing Yu

    (School of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development, Renmin University of China, Beijing 100872, China)

  • Jian Wu

    (School of Environment and Natural Resources, Renmin University of China, Beijing 100872, China)

Abstract

The article aims to provide an overview of China’s agricultural development and its sustainability by focusing on the agriculture–environmental nexus. We first review literature regarding trends in agricultural development and driving forces. China has made impressive progress at providing food for 22% of the world’s population. At the same time, severe environmental impacts have been incurred which not only affect future food security but also have impacts on other socio-economic aspects. The agricultural policies that have been put into practice have direct or indirect impacts on such environmental outcomes. We review the impacts of agricultural policies as well as conservation policies, their effectiveness, some unintended consequences and conflicts. The article concludes that technology and institutional innovation in China should emphasize more integrated sustainable development considering the agriculture–environment nexus, instead of setting incoherent and sometimes incompatible policy goals for each separate side.

Suggested Citation

  • Jialing Yu & Jian Wu, 2018. "The Sustainability of Agricultural Development in China: The Agriculture–Environment Nexus," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-17, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:6:p:1776-:d:149495
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/6/1776/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/6/1776/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lin, Justin Yifu, 1990. "Collectivization and China's Agricultural Crisis in 1959-1961," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 98(6), pages 1228-1252, December.
    2. JunJie Wu, 2000. "Slippage Effects of the Conservation Reserve Program," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 82(4), pages 979-992.
    3. Ying Liu & Chenggang Wang & Zeng Tang & Zhibiao Nan, 2017. "Farmland Rental and Productivity of Wheat and Maize: An Empirical Study in Gansu, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(10), pages 1-18, September.
    4. McMillan, John & Whalley, John & Zhu, Lijing, 1989. "The Impact of China's Economic Reforms on Agricultural Productivity Growth," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 97(4), pages 781-807, August.
    5. Huang, Jikun & Rozelle, Scott, 1996. "Technological change: Rediscovering the engine of productivity growth in China's rural economy," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(2), pages 337-369, May.
    6. Shilong Piao & Philippe Ciais & Yao Huang & Zehao Shen & Shushi Peng & Junsheng Li & Liping Zhou & Hongyan Liu & Yuecun Ma & Yihui Ding & Pierre Friedlingstein & Chunzhen Liu & Kun Tan & Yongqiang Yu , 2010. "The impacts of climate change on water resources and agriculture in China," Nature, Nature, vol. 467(7311), pages 43-51, September.
    7. Jennifer M. Alix-Garcia & Elizabeth N. Shapiro & Katharine R. E. Sims, 2012. "Forest Conservation and Slippage: Evidence from Mexico’s National Payments for Ecosystem Services Program," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 88(4), pages 613-638.
    8. Zhang, Kevin Honglin & Song, Shunfeng, 2003. "Rural-urban migration and urbanization in China: Evidence from time-series and cross-section analyses," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 14(4), pages 386-400.
    9. Guo, Ruiping & Lin, Zhonghui & Mo, Xingguo & Yang, Chunlin, 2010. "Responses of crop yield and water use efficiency to climate change in the North China Plain," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 97(8), pages 1185-1194, August.
    10. Cao, Kang Hua & Birchenall, Javier A., 2013. "Agricultural productivity, structural change, and economic growth in post-reform China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 165-180.
    11. Fangbin Qiao & Jikun Huang & Linxiu Zhang & Scott Rozelle, 2012. "Pesticide use and farmers' health in China's rice production," China Agricultural Economic Review, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 4(4), pages 468-484, November.
    12. Liu, Yunhua & Wang, Xiaobing, 2005. "Technological progress and Chinese agricultural growth in the 1990s," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 16(4), pages 419-440.
    13. Lin, Justin Yifu, 1992. "Rural Reforms and Agricultural Growth in China," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 82(1), pages 34-51, March.
    14. Rozelle, Scott & Rosegrant, Mark W., 1997. "China's past, present, and future food economy: can China continue to meet the challenges?," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 22(3), pages 191-200, June.
    15. Qiao, Fangbin, 2015. "Fifteen Years of Bt Cotton in China: The Economic Impact and its Dynamics," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 177-185.
    16. Fang, Q.X. & Ma, L. & Green, T.R. & Yu, Q. & Wang, T.D. & Ahuja, L.R., 2010. "Water resources and water use efficiency in the North China Plain: Current status and agronomic management options," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 97(8), pages 1102-1116, August.
    17. Wang, Xiaobing & Yamauchi, Futoshi & Otsuka, Keijiro & Huang, Jikun, 2016. "Wage Growth, Landholding, and Mechanization in Chinese Agriculture," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 30-45.
    18. Uchida, Emi & Xu, Jintao & Xu, Zhigang & Rozelle, Scott, 2007. "Are the poor benefiting from China's land conservation program?," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 12(4), pages 593-620, August.
    19. Alan de Brauw & John Giles, 2018. "Migrant Labor Markets and the Welfare of Rural Households in the Developing World: Evidence from China," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 32(1), pages 1-18.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Zhang, Yumei & Diao, Xinshen, 2020. "The changing role of agriculture with economic structural change – The case of China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    2. Du, Jane & Deng, Kent, 2016. "To get the prices right for food: a “Gerschenkron state” versus the market in reforming China, 1979–2006," Economic History Working Papers 65369, London School of Economics and Political Science, Department of Economic History.
    3. Jikun Huang & Scott Rozelle, 2010. "Agricultural Development, Nutrition, and the Policies Behind China's Success," Asian Journal of Agriculture and Development, Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA), vol. 7(1), pages 93-126, June.
    4. Ito, Junichi, 2010. "Inter-regional difference of agricultural productivity in China: Distinction between biochemical and machinery technology," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 21(3), pages 394-410, September.
    5. Gong, Binlei, 2018. "Agricultural reforms and production in China: Changes in provincial production function and productivity in 1978–2015," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 18-31.
    6. Chao Zhang & Ruifa Hu, 2020. "Does Fertilizer Use Intensity Respond to the Urban-Rural Income Gap? Evidence from a Dynamic Panel-Data Analysis in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-15, January.
    7. Carter, Colin A. & Estrin, Andrew J., 2001. "Market Reforms Versus Structural Reforms in Rural China," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(3), pages 527-541, September.
    8. Huang, Qiuqiong & Rozelle, Scott & Lohmar, Bryan & Huang, Jikun & Wang, Jinxia, 2006. "Irrigation, agricultural performance and poverty reduction in China," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 30-52, February.
    9. Wang, Xiaobing & Yamauchi, Futoshi & Otsuka, Keijiro & Huang, Jikun, 2016. "Wage Growth, Landholding, and Mechanization in Chinese Agriculture," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 30-45.
    10. Rozelle, Scott & Huang, Jikun, 2000. "Transition, development and the supply of wheat in China," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 44(4), pages 1-29.
    11. Xin, Xiangfei & Qin, Fu, 2009. "Decomposition of Agricultural Labor Productivity Growth and its Regional Disparity in China," 2009 Conference, August 16-22, 2009, Beijing, China 51047, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    12. Hu, Zhi-An & Huang, Wei & Luo, Wei & You, Wuyue & Zhang, Chuanchuan, 2024. "The educational and labor market consequences of teenage exposure to rural land decollectivization in China," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 228(C).
    13. Torsten Heinrich & Jangho Yang & Shuanping Dai, 2020. "Growth, development, and structural change at the firmlevel: The example of the PR China," Chemnitz Economic Papers 040, Department of Economics, Chemnitz University of Technology.
    14. Bai, Ying & Kung, James Kai-sing, 2014. "The shaping of an institutional choice: Weather shocks, the Great Leap Famine, and agricultural decollectivization in China," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 1-26.
    15. Jin, Zhangfeng & Pan, Shiyuan, 2020. "Incentive Pay and Firm Productivity: Evidence from China," GLO Discussion Paper Series 479, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    16. Alfons Weersink & Scott Rozelle, 1997. "Marketing reforms, market development and agricultural production in China," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 17(2-3), pages 95-114, December.
    17. Massimo Caruso, 2002. "Procyclical Productivity and Output Growth in China: An Econometric Analysis," Open Economies Review, Springer, vol. 13(3), pages 251-274, July.
    18. Lin, Justin Yifu & Yang, Dennis Tao, 1998. "On the causes of China's agricultural crisis and the great leap famine," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 9(2), pages 125-140.
    19. Alan de Brauw & Jikun Huang & Scott Rozelle, "undated". "Sequencing and the Success of Gradualism: Empirical Evidence from China's Agricultural Reform," Center for Development Economics 173, Department of Economics, Williams College.
    20. Shengmin Sun & Qiang Chen, 2014. "Measuring the Effects of Decollectivization on China's Agricultural Growth: A Panel GMM Approach, 1970-1987," SDU Working Papers 2014-05, School of Economics, Shandong University.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:6:p:1776-:d:149495. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.