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Crop Diversification in the Asia-Pacific region - United Nations in ...

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CROP DIVERSIFICATION IN CHINAZuo Mengxiao *1. INTRODUCTION1.1 Bio-diversity of Genetic ResourcesCh<strong>in</strong>a ranks third <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> world <strong>in</strong> germplasm resources, second only to Brazil andColombia, and occupies 12 percent of <strong>the</strong> world’s crop species. The country is one of <strong>the</strong>three centres of orig<strong>in</strong> of cultivated plants <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> world and has a great number of wildrelatives of cultivated species such as soybean, rice, barley, tea and, <strong>the</strong>refore, is very rich <strong>in</strong>germplasm resources of crops. Accord<strong>in</strong>g to statistics, Ch<strong>in</strong>a has more than 1,000 economictree species, 50,000 local rice varieties, 20,000 soybean varieties, more than 11,000 speciesof drug plants, more than 4,200 species of forage plants, and more than 2,200 species ofimportant ornamental and flower plants.1.2 <strong>Crop</strong> <strong>Diversification</strong> <strong>in</strong> Ch<strong>in</strong>aCh<strong>in</strong>a has 7,000 years of history <strong>in</strong> agricultural development and domestication ofcrops. This heritage of cultivated plants developed and utilized by <strong>the</strong> farmers is unique <strong>in</strong><strong>the</strong> world. Ch<strong>in</strong>a’s vast territory, diversity of climates, as well as its complicatedphysiography made great contributions to <strong>the</strong> formation of a variety of ecosystems. With along period of natural and artificial selection, <strong>the</strong> farmers <strong>in</strong> Ch<strong>in</strong>a have created various typesof cropp<strong>in</strong>g systems to match varied ecosystems exploit<strong>in</strong>g abundant genetic resources offarm crops.<strong>Diversification</strong> of farm crops refers to <strong>the</strong> complex diversification patterns ofagricultural cropp<strong>in</strong>g systems found under <strong>the</strong> conditions of farm<strong>in</strong>g environments. In short,diversification of crops firstly refers to <strong>the</strong> species diversification of cultivated crops andsecondly refers to <strong>the</strong> diversification of varieties and ecotypes of <strong>the</strong> same variety tomaximize outputs of primary products as well as value-added processed products to enablefarmers to enhance <strong>the</strong>ir <strong>in</strong>comes. The Ch<strong>in</strong>ese farmer pioneered this concept long ago as <strong>the</strong>pressure of population on land was so great that he was compelled to diversify his cropp<strong>in</strong>gsystems <strong>in</strong> order to be self-reliant with<strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> physical resources available to him.2. CROP PRODUCTION AND ECONOMICS SCENARIO2.1 Commercial Production of Major <strong>Crop</strong>sThe Ch<strong>in</strong>ese government always puts agriculture at <strong>the</strong> forefront of <strong>the</strong> nationaleconomy, and assists <strong>in</strong> improv<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> conditions of agricultural production cont<strong>in</strong>uously bystabiliz<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> basic policies <strong>in</strong> rural areas. The government thus protected and mobilized <strong>the</strong>* Senior Agronomist and Deputy Director, Department of <strong>Crop</strong> Production, M<strong>in</strong>istry of Agriculture, Beij<strong>in</strong>g,Ch<strong>in</strong>a.24

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