This 640,000 km² plateau is actually not suitable for growing crops. But if you zoom in, you can see all the valleys, all the hills are converted to arable lands. From above, all the cultivated lands appeared like “roots”.
Just zoom in to any place, you would find all the hills are converted to terraces.
However, people have found that creating too much terraced land would cause land degradation and destructive mudslide during the monsoon season. From year 1999, the CCP realised that its previous massive cultivation campaign does not improve crop production significantly but instead has caused many floods and mudslides, then it halted the cultivation and proposed the “Returning Farmland to Forest Program (退耕还林)” campaign.
For those lands with low yield, farmers are forced to give up their land and they have to grow trees on them. And for the farmers who lost the land, the government would compensate the farmers with a fee that is equivalent to the field earnings.
The above picture shows the impact of the forestation and afforestation. This is proof that after many lessons, the CCP has gradually grasped the key to sustainable development.
Xi Jinping once said: “China highly values ecological and environmental protection. Guided by the conviction that lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets, the country advocates harmonious coexistence between humans and nature, and sticks to the path of green and sustainable development.”
These are not empty words. Every “words” are backed by actual actions. Many people outside China may wonder why mainland Chinese still prefer Xi Jinping. One of the reasons is that he restructured the old bureaucracy of China to be more “environment focused”. For example, the local environmental officials now have the authority to impeach local mayors if the region has done badly in sustainable development.
The outcome of “Returning Farmland to Forest Program” is definitely causing the reduction of the arable land in China. However, despite the arable land degradation, thanks to the huge investment in agriculture technology, agriculture efficiency still improves, making its domestic crop production still increase.
One example is the new technology that allows you to grow rice using salty sea water.
Despite the domestic crop production increase, China is still not self-sustainable in terms of rice, wheat, and corn. It has to import 10% of its annual consumption from the rest of the world. However, most of them are not directly for human consumption.
Example 1: Beer and Baijiu production
Since 2006, China has become the world's largest producer of beer with 46.5438 million kiloliters, which is more than double that of the US. It has increased production by 4.9% annually. Besides wheat, China has to import most of the hop plant for beers from Germany and the USA.
And China is also the world’s leading producer of spirit alcohol. The Chinese might not favor Whiskey or Volta. Most of them drink Baiju, which is more fragrant and rich in flavour. The Baiju production is around 13.6 million kiloliters, which is much more than western people can consume. And the local rice wine made by individual Chinese households is not even counted!
As a result, some part of China has a much heavier drinking culture that the rest of the world is not even aware of. Let me tell you. It is much heavier than the British and the Russians.
Example 2: Pig and pork production
Global pork production
The above graph just shows how do the Chinese love pork so much. Some of the pigs raised in China fed on the corns imported from the USA and Brazil. This also applies to the chickens, cattle and other animals raised in China.
Conclusion
China is able to provide enough food more than just plain rice or wheat. The variety of food offered on the Chinese table is much more diverse and cheaper than most developed places in the world. This applies to “poor people” as well. This is based on my personal experiences and observations after traveling from many countries in Europe, the US, and Japan.
For example, in China, a group of eight people can sit at a round table, enjoying 20 different dishes including different meat, vegetables, dessert etc. They don’t have to worry about religious restrictions, allergic concerns, and personal spaces.
In Shandong, the total dinner costs around $50. The same set of 20 dishes could cost $150 in Beijing/Shanghai/Taipei or $300 in California/Japan/Hong Kong etc. And we are not counting the beers and drinks. Actually, most people in California/Japan don’t have the luxury to enjoy 20 different dishes at all but it is more than common in China.
Tiada ulasan:
Catat Ulasan