INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE

TO

CHINA AND SOUTH KOREA

Pre-Trip Reports

February 16-28, 2008

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Agriculture in China ……………………..………………………………………………. page 1

Tim Bartram “Chinese Agriculture Overview” ………………………………………… page 2

Edmond Bonjour “The Buzz in China” ………………………………………………… page 4

Lee Ann Bowman “The Rapid Growth and Sustainability of the Chinese Dairy Industry”………… page 7

Brent Conrady “China’s Crops”………………………………………………………. page 9

Wendell Custer “Overview of Beef Cattle Breeds in China” …………………………. page 12

Keeff Felty “The Progression of Agriculture in China” ………………………………. page 14

Brian Jervis “Horticulture in China”…………………………………………………. page 16

Joey Meibergen “Grain Production in China” ………………………………………… page 18

Kevin Propps “Land Ownership and Agricultural Lending in China” ……………….. page 25

China and South Korea Government …………………………………………………. page 27

Thad Doye “The Government of South Korea” ……………………………………. page 28

Doug Ritter “The Government of the People’s Republic of China” ……………….. page 31

Curtis Vap “The Constitution of the People’s Republic of China”…………………... page 34

China and South Korea Culture of the People ………………………………………. page 37

Julie Fitzgerald “Chinese and Korean Cultures: A Comparison” ……………………. page 38

Summer Kemp “China’s One Child Policy and United States Adoption Rates” ……. page 40

Kevin Long “China Freedom of Religion: Fact or Fiction” …………………………. page 43

Cody White “China/Korea Culture of the People” …………………………………… page 45

China’s Health and Education Issues …………………………………………….…... page 48

Rob Bauter “Education in China” ……………………………………………………. page 49

Bill Farris “Traditional Chinese Medicine” ………………………………………….. page 52

Jean Williams “Currents Status of Healthcare and Education in China” ……………. page 54

China and South Korea Economics ………………………………………………….. page 57

Galynn Beer “The Economics of China” ……………………………………………. page 58

JD Elwood “China’s Agricultural Economy and Rural Policy” …………………….. page 61

Hope Pjesky “The United States –Korea Free Trade Agreement” ………………….. page 65


Chinese Agriculture an Overview

Tim Bartram

For my report I interviewed Dr Hailin Zhang. Dr Zhang is Santelmann/Warth Distinguished Professor Nutrient Management Extension Specialist and Soil, Water and Forage Analytical Laboratory Director in the Plant and Soil Science department at OSU. He is a native of China and has a brother who is a farmer in China. Dr. Zhang is from Nanjing (known as Nanking to most Americans) just east of Shanghai on the Yangtze River. This is where his brother still farms.

China has only 7% of the world’s arable land but produces 20% of the world’s staple foods. However the top soil is very deep, Up to hundreds of feet deep in some areas. They use every inch of suitable land for intensive cultivation. In the more mountainous areas terraces are used to farm the side of the mountains. Irrigation has increased from 20 million hectares in 1952 to greater than 51 million hectares in 1997. I saw pictures of rice growing paddies with soybeans growing on the side of the dikes. Dr. Zhang said this is not unusual. In the warmer south farmers produce as many as three crops in one year growing two crops of rice and one crop of winter wheat. Technology and mechanization is being used even thought the size of the farms is very small. His brother has 1/3 of an acre which is divided into three different fields. Through intensive management the yields are very high. There are beginning to be issues with the over use of fertilizer. Dr. Zhang is working with scientists and extension personnel in China to implement soil testing. There is an extension service in China but it isn’t as effective as what we have in the United States. Most Chinese Farmers learn about new practice from the input providers. However there are many good agricultural universities in China. We will visit one in Xian. Dr. Zhang listed the introduction of Short Stemmed Rice in the 1960 followed by Hybrid Rice in the 1970 as important milestone in Chinese agriculture. Their wheat breeding programs are very advanced. Genetic Modified crops are being used in China. He was not sure if there is research being done on GMO Wheat. The official position on GMO’s is neutral in China.

The land use system in China is different than what I expected. From 1950 to 1978 the collective system like what was used in the Soviet Union was used in China. In 1978 it was switched to the Household Contract Responsibility System. In this system parcels of land are assigned to individuals. While still owned by the state, the individual has the right to make his own decisions about what to do about the land. He can decide what crops to plan or what livestock to raise. His brother raises rabbits. However from some sources on the internet there is some issues being raised about the need for a new land revolution in China. Urban sprawl is becoming a big problem. Farmers are using the internet to complain about this issue. And recently have had meetings to promote private ownership of agricultural lands. These meetings have been broken up by the police and the leaders arrested. The leaders were not held long. The hope of the leaders is that these meeting will lead to reform. Similar actions led to the reforms made in 1978. (Washington Post Jan 14.2008) The Communist Party is facing a decision about how they are going to keep people fed without slowing down economic growth through building new industries. Last year the Party enacted legislation to protect the farmers and provide for compensation if their land is taken for development. However, this has not been enforced at the local level. The Communist Party has launched a campaign educate farmer on their land rights and to encourage them to use the legal system to protect those rights. (AP Beijing 1-15-2008). The land use system and the introduction of technology and mechanization have led to a surplus of labor in rural areas. Because of this rural industries have grown dramatically. There are over 30 million industries in rural areas. While food production has rise dramatically as well the increase in industry has provided the bigger impact on rural economies. He should me some pictures of how the housing in rural areas has changed. It went from very poor housing to very nice.

We discussed crops grown in the country. The two major rivers in the country divide the growing regions somewhat. From Beijing south to the Yangtze River is the Winter Wheat belt. From Beijing north is Spring wheat country with a climate similar to Minnesota or the Dakota’s. However to the Northwest of Beijing there is a lot of corn and milo raised. The soil is very similar to the “I States” In the past most of the corn and milo was used for human consumption. However, it is now used for animal feed. Many of the rich in China made their money feeding livestock. CAFO’s are an issue for pollution. The primary livestock feed are swine, Poultry, and dairies. This and the economic growth have had a big impact on the diet of the Chinese. Dr. Zhang remembers when the majority of Chinese had meat once a week. Now many eat meat every day. He said that the change is not all positive. More people are overweight and there has been an increase in heart problems in China.

Xian has a climate similar to the High Plains regions of the Oklahoma and Texas Panhandles or Eastern Colorado and Western Kansas. Winter Wheat is grown in this drier climate. Also the University which will visit in the Xian area has a forestry department.

From the Yangtze River south is where more of the rice is grown. Shanghai is at the mouth of the Yangtze.

From China.org

The “Buzz” in China

Edmond Bonjour

Have you ever been walking outside and suddenly hear a buzzing around your head that made you panic? Bees are seemingly small and insignificant creatures that can startle people and cause people anxiety.

However, pollinators such as bees are very critical when it comes to agriculture. It is estimated that over 75% of the crops in the world and over 80% of all flowering plants depend on pollinators, especially bees. On a global basis, the annual contribution of pollinators to agricultural crops is estimated at $54 billion (Kenmore and Krell 1998). Pollination enables plant reproduction and food production for humans and animals, which includes fruits and seeds, as well as improved seed and fruit quality and quantity.

In the Himalayan region of Asia, agriculture is the livelihood of over 80% of the rural population with more than 90% of the farmers in the hill and mountain areas being marginal or small land-holding families that cultivate less than one hectare of land (Partap 1999). To gain some economic advantage, the focus of agriculture is shifting from traditional cereal crops to more diversified high-value cash crops such as apples, almonds, pears, peaches, plums, and cherries, and off-season vegetables, both for local and export markets. Cash crops have increased in the Chinese Himalayas with annual production of apples at 208,220 tonnes (1 tonne = 2204.6 pounds), citrus at 800 tonnes, other fruits at 354,200 tonnes, vegetable crops at 26,300 tonnes, oilseed crops at 1,756,300 tonnes, and other crops such as ginger, pulses, tea, cotton, potato, tomato, etc. at 16,688,200 tonnes annually (Partap 2003). However, many cash crops are self-sterile and require insects for cross-pollination to produce fruit and seeds.

The change from subsistence to cash-crop farming poses new challenges for maintaining productivity. There are indicators that the overall productivity of many mountain crops in the Himalayan region is declining. This reduction is occurring even though there are extensive efforts by extension personnel to support improvements in management practices. Several studies have revealed that pollination plays an important role in mountain crop productivity (Partap and Partap, 2000, 2002).

There has been a world-wide decline in populations of pollinators in recent years. As a result of the economic and population growth and development in China, insect diversity in this country is now faced with habitat degradation, species extinction, and a decline in natural enemies of harmful pests. These problems result from the expansion of agriculture, urbanization, industrialization, pollution, mining, tourism, introduced species, hunting, and the illegal trade in endangered species (You et al. 2005). Other factors may include climate changes, a higher number of monoculture crops in agriculture, and an increase in the use of pesticides and fertilizers. Additionally, the recent phenomenon known as colony collapse disorder of honeybees in the United States has caused a major concern for beehive managers world-wide. The decline in pollinator populations and diversity is a serious threat to agricultural production and has resulted in decreased production. This loss of production has created the need for managed pollination in order to maintain crop yields.

In the Maoxian County in the Hengduan Mountains of Sichuan Province, South China, apple cultivation began in 1935 with large-scale cultivation beginning in the 1980s. There are 2,830 hectares of apples that produce approximately 30,000 tonnes of apples worth $33.9 million US every year (Partap and Partap 2000). Hand pollination of these apples is utilized even though beekeeping is popular in the area. Why is hand pollinating utilized? The average farm in this area is very small, about 0.2 hectares. Farmers have only planted the most desired varieties which are not self-pollinating and have planted very few trees as a pollen source because they are less important commercially. With so few trees producing pollen, honeybees can not obtain enough pollen to pollinate the more valuable trees. The farmers want the highest yield possible and believe that only pollination by hand can guarantee that each flower is properly pollinated, especially since there are so few pollinizing trees. Also, it is possible to pollinate by hand even in low temperature and in bad weather conditions when bees and other insects do not fly.

A similar situation occurs in the pear-growing area in the Sichuan Province. Pears are one of the four most important fruits produced in Hanyuan County and pear yield accounts for over 70% of the total fruit yield of the county (Ya et al. 2002). Pear cultivation occurs on 13,330 hectares and 100% of the pears are pollinated by hand.

Pollinating flowers by hand is very common and provides employment and income-generating opportunities for many people during the flowering season. However, this practice is very expensive and time-consuming, and a highly unsustainable option for crop pollination because of increasing scarcity of labor. Approximately 20-25 people are needed to pollinate apples in one orchard in one day which costs a farmer about $70 US (Partap and Partap 2000). On the other hand, only two honeybee colonies are needed to pollinate an orchard which would cost the farmer $14 US, being five times cheaper than the current practice. However, regional beekeepers do not want to rent out their hives, even during the flowering season, because of the risks associated with the excessive use of insecticides. Farmers spray 10-15 times each season and these pesticides kill many bees and other natural insect pollinators, in addition to killing the target pests (Partap and Partap 2000).