China offers opportunities for learning, sharing

I recently had the opportunity to visit China, my third trip in five years. Each time I go, I am more convinced than ever that I will not understand this country no matter how many times I visit. It is the most immense and diverse place I have ever seen. As one of the people I met commented, "There is the saying that only God knows some things, but even God doesn't know how many people there are in China."

On this trip I traveled as a faculty member with a group of Iowa State University students on a study abroad program with the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS). Cargill subsidized the students by providing air fare. I also had the opportunity to visit Zhejiang Agricultural University in Hangzhou.

Like anywhere else, you can get as many different opinions as the number of people you ask. China faces many problems but at this time I don't think feeding itself is one of them. I saw an abundance and variety of food. They may have trouble keeping up with grain production, but overall they will have enough food in the foreseeable future. Not only are they good at using all parts of plants and animals, they also are good at making intensive use of the land available.

Unlike some U.S. observers, I don't think China will become a big U.S. export customer. There will be some years when they import and many opportunities will open up over the next several years, but I don't think China will ever become dependent on anyone for food.

Export opportunities will open in beef, fish and in other areas than hogs. The Chinese already consume close to the same amount of pork per capita as Americans. Additionally, swine are valued for their use of garbage as food. As one of my guides put it, "Pigs have to get their own breakfast and lunch, and the farmer gives them dinner." On the other hand, beef and dairy require a large amount of grain or forage. It's doubtful the Chinese will start devoting a lot of land to the production of hay or feed crops, so there may be some opportunities for grain imports. I do not think that we'll ever see the Chinese consume as many beef or dairy products as we do.

A serious problem is how to increase the level of farm income while eliminating the back-breaking labor. If mechanization is used, what will they do with the people who are displaced? This is a daunting problem when you consider that somewhere between 800 and 900 million people are involved with agriculture in China.

Environmental considerations also are important in China, but one researcher I met said sustainable agriculture starts with adequate food production. The environment comes second.

A controlled market is evolving in China. Although there are elements of a free market, strict controls exist on what is "free" and how much. Part of the dilemma is the conflict between the Eastern philosophy, which puts society first, and the Western approach, which puts the individual first. China always will be different than the United States.

China is starting to really experience many of the problems seen in more developed countries. Drugs, prostitution, crime and an unequal division of wealth are all more common today than just a few years ago.

I had the opportunity to meet an American couple who had been in China since 1948. Their perspective was much different than any I had heard before or during this trip. They felt the average peasant was worse off now than before the shift to a market economy. They also felt that the people in charge today are the very ones targeted by the Cultural Revolution more than 40 years ago.

On a previous visit I was reviewing sustainable agriculture projects. I was struck by the fact that I was from a country that had been farmed for less than 200 years, and was trying to teach sustainability to people living in areas that had been farmed for 6,000 years. I had those same feelings this time.

We must learn from one another. Many of our problems have yet to come to China. Although we cannot expect them to follow the same path, we can look at some very good opportunities ahead in China. But we cannot use China to justify a massive export-driven expansion of U.S. agriculture. Cooperation and mutual respect will make things work best for everyone.

Return to the Fall 1998 Leopold Letter Index