Given the climatic and pedological variety of the vast territory, there is an almost complete range of crops in China, many of which are in very high quantities. Since the 1950s, clearing and reclamation have earned more than 10 million ha for agriculture, subtracted from intense urbanization; at the same time there was the extension of mechanization and the use of chemical fertilizers: in both fields the great availability of manpower was found to be a disincentive. The irrigation works have been strengthened by both the central and local authorities, so much so that today 45% of the cultivated lands are involved; progress has also been made in water storage. For a long time, research has been mainly concerned with the selection of varieties with higher productivity, also pursued through the use of imports, to the detriment of the commitment to the enhancement of other agronomic factors. The limits remain in the difficult climatic conditions (drought, erosion and desertification, floods) and in the application of technologies, as well as in the complementary structures for storage and commercialization. After all, agriculture was the sector in which the liberalization of the economy achieved the most controversial results, after the successful start of the reforms. Decollectivisation has produced above all a strong rural unemployment that the spread of small industries in the countryside has not been able to absorb: the an exuberance of labor expelled at least in part from the previous state of underemployment would be as much as 200 million units.
The arable land, which covers 14.1% of the land area, corresponds almost entirely to eastern China, that is to say, to the traditional agricultural regions included in the Huang He and Chang Jiang basins. In the former, wheat is grown above all, followed by corn, sorghum, barley and potatoes; in the second, rice cultivation dominates, (which allows two crops per year in certain areas), but various oil plants (sesame, that is to say to the traditional agricultural regions included in the Huang He and Chang Jiang basins. In the former, wheat is grown above all, followed by corn, sorghum, barley and potatoes; in the second, rice cultivation dominates, (which allows two crops per year in certain areas), but various oil plants (sesame, that is to say to the traditional agricultural regions included in the Huang He and Chang Jiang basins. In the former, wheat is grown above all, followed by corn, sorghum, barley and potatoes; in the second, rice cultivation dominates, (which allows two crops per year in certain areas), but various oil plants (sesame, soy, peanuts), as well as fruit, tea, tobacco, cotton, jute, etc. Southern China also lends itself very well to rice cultivation (even three harvests per year), followed by many tropical crops, such as sugar cane, pineapple, citrus fruits, etc. Finally, Manchuria is a very important agricultural region, of more recent development: in addition to wheat and sorghum, soybeans and sugar beets are particularly cultivated here. As a country located in Asia categorized by Picktrue, China clearly holds the world record for the production of rice (184.2 million t, one third of the world total), which is traditionally the basis of Chinese nutrition, with a yield even higher than 35 q / ha, and for those of wheat (96.1 million t) and potatoes (73.7 million t); it is also the second largest producer of corn in the world (after the United States), it produces moderate quantities of various minor cereals (millet, sorghum, rye), it is the fourth largest producer of soybeans (16.9 ml of t) and the first of peanuts; the productions of sesame, rapeseed, sunflower, castor are also consistent.
The increase in demand for cereals was supported not only by the needs of human nutrition, but also by the expansion of animal husbandry, favored by the privatization of the sector. This has also determined the territorial extension of the crops: that of barley, in particular, thanks to the development of irrigation, has considerably extended to the north. Potatoes and even more sweet potatoes and tomatoes make significant contributions to nutrition. From cane and above all from beet, a quantity of sugar is obtained which is more than sufficient for the national needs. China is the world’s leading producer of tobacco and tea, the most widespread national drink. Fruit growing (bananas, apples, pears, citrus fruits, etc.) and the production of legumes and vegetables of all kinds, especially near large urban centers, are constantly expanding. Among the textile plants, which are also numerous and of great importance, the production of cotton (the first world producer) is remarkable, thanks also to the new plantations in central-eastern China and in the western areas of recent colonization. Flax, of which China ensures over half of world production, jute, ramie and hemp are also grown.
