Growing Populations, Changing Landscapes Studies from India, China, and the United States (2001) / Chapter Skim
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8. Population, Consumption, and Land Use in the Jitai Basin Region, Jiangxi Province
8. Population, Consumption, and Land Use in the Jitai Basin Region, Jiangxi Province
Pages 179-206
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From page 179... ...
The basin covers 12,468 square kilometers. Its two major urban centers are Ji'an City, located in the plains area of Ji'an County, and Jinggangshan City, which is in the mountains (Figure 8-1~.
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From page 180... ...
Characterized by ideal water and heat conditions, fertile soil, and a high multiple crop index, the plains are the main agricultural region of the litai Basin. The litai Basin region lies in a typical subtropical climate zone with its rich sunlight, heat, and monsoon rains.
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From page 181... ...
But much of this forest has been destroyed and converted to other land uses, with serious environmental consequences. Soils in the Jitai Basin region can be divided into 15 types according to location and texture (Land Administrative Bureau and Soil Survey Office of Jiangxi Province, 1991~.1 Just over half of the area is covered by red soil (udic ferralisols)
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From page 182... ...
SOURCE: Population statiStics, Statistical Bureau of Jiangxi Province, 1951-1995.
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From page 183... ...
During that period, population pressure, together with the government's land reform policy aimed at distributing land from the landlords to individual households, led to large-scale land reclamation in the region. In 1958, however, the central government initiated the Great Leap Forward, a policy aimed at matching China's steel output with that of the United Kingdom and the United States in a short time.
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From page 184... ...
SOURCES: Collection of agricultural statistics, 1949-1987, Bureau for Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Fishery Production in li'an Prefecture, li'an, liangxi Province, pp. 107, 122, 138, 963964; Economic Statistical Yearbooks of li'an City, linggangshan City, and li'an, lishui, Taihe, Xingguo counties.
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From page 185... ...
In Taihe County, forestland decreased 25 percent from 1957 to 1975 and then increased 1 percent from 1975 to 1989 and 54 percent from 1989 to 1994 (Table 8-2~. The total forest stock, however, declined from 5.11 million cubic meters in 1961 to 3.15 million cubic meters in 1994 (see Figure 8-5)
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From page 186... ...
In the litai Basin the two dominant cash trees are tea and citrus. Before the central government launched a reform policy and opened China to the world in 1978, horticultural land increased slowly because of the government policy of putting grain first.
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From page 187... ...
107, 122, 138, 963-964; Economic Statistical Yearbooks of li'an City, linggangshan City, and li'an, lishui, Taihe, Xingguo counties.
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From page 188... ...
1950-1990. Beijing: Chinese Statistical Press; Economic Statistical Yearbooks of li'an City, linggangshan City, and li'an, lishui, Taihe, Xingguo counties.
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From page 189... ...
Yet per capita consumption levels in Jiangxi Province are increasing (Figure 8-8~. The price index for retail goods indicates that the gap in consumption levels between Jiangxi and Guangdong Provinces is in fact a real gap and not a reflection of a disparity in retail prices (see Figure 8-9~.
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From page 190... ...
Data were drawn from: a geographic information system (GIS) and additional statistics to evaluate land use change; multiple time-series data for the years 1950-1995; and official data collected from the statistical bureaus of provincial and local governments.
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From page 191... ...
Because of China's centralized administrative structure, the policies of the central government play a crucial role in influencing land use change, population growth, and economic development. In the area of land use, for example, both the Great Leap Forward in 1958 and the "household responsibility system for forest production" policy in 1982 triggered deforestation.
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From page 192... ...
Population growth is an important driving force in land use change in the Jitai Basin. During 1950-1957, population pressure, combined with the land reform policies of the central government, led to agricultural expansion.
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From page 193... ...
Population growth is, of course, likely to be an important factor driving land use change, but it has not been the determining one in the litai Basin, especially during 1950-1982, the period the planned economy system was in effect in China. Since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, the administrative structure of the country, based on the principle of centralization, has consisted of a national central government that sits atop descending provincial, district, county, township, and village governments.
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From page 195... ...
In other words, land use change in the litai Basin can be explained more by policies issued by the central government than by the oft-cited factor of population pressure. Finding 2: Population growth in the Jitai Basin correlates only marginally with farmland development.
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From page 196... ...
In 1960, after the initiation of the Great Leap Forward, the government began to 7 6 5 1 -3 - 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1950 1954 1958 1962 1966 1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 Year FIGURE 8-10 Population growth rate, Jitai Basin, 1950-1994. SOURCE: Population statistics, Statistical Bureau of li'an Prefecture, 1950-1994.
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From page 197... ...
Most of the increase in population came from natural population growth. Population pressure, external demand, and government policy encouraging farmers to plant grain resulted in expansion of farmland in the Jitai Basin prior to 1958.
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From page 198... ...
~ -10- 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 it 1951 1954 1957 1960 1963 1966 1969 1972 1975 1978 1981 1984 1987 1990 1993 Year FIGURE 8-12 Rates of change in farmland and population, litai Basin, 1951-1993. SOURCES: Population statistics, Statistical Bureau of li'an Prefecture, 1950-1993; Collection of agricultural statistics, 1949-1987, Bureau for Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Fishery Production in li'an Prefecture, li'an, liangxi Province; Economic Statistical Yearbooks of li'an City, linggangshan City, and li'an, lishui, Taihe, Xingguo counties.
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From page 199... ...
For example, according to the records of Xingguo County, on June 10, 1959, heavy rains led to flooding of more than 28,700 hectares of arable land. Then from June 18 to June 21, 203.2 millimeters of rain fell, flooding 57,000 hectares.
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From page 200... ...
. Per capita production increased slowly prior to the early 1980s because of rapid population growth, even though total production showed an overall rise.
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From page 201... ...
Cash crops accounted for 27 percent of total area sown in 1989 and 34 percent in 1996. Finding 4: An increase in the floating population is promoting local private economic development.
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From page 202... ...
Members of the floating population are required to get a license from the local government every half-year; otherwise, they are considered illegal residents. In the litai Basin the floating population mainly refers to the labor force that leaves the region temporarily to find work.
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From page 203... ...
Because the floating labor force cannot officially migrate to the place where they work, floaters have to move between their working place and their household registry residence twice a year. From Xingguo County in liangxi Province, most of the floating-out labor force goes to Shenzhen City on the South China Sea or Shanghai on the East China Sea to work temporarily (see Table 8-6, which compares the average income of the labor forces in Xingguo County with that of the floating labor forces in Shenzhen City from 1991 to 1994~.
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From page 204... ...
In a country with a centralized administrative structure, government policy has more of an effect on land use change than does population growth, particularly during periods of a directly planned economy. The total population of the litai Basin increased from 1951 to 1995, mainly through natural growth.
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From page 205... ...
Nanchang: Science and Technology Press of Jiangxi Province. Land Administrative Bureau and Soil Survey Office of Jiangxi Province.
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