The components of agriculture

Abstract

Abstract The general meaning of agriculture in China is that agriculture consists of agriculture (i.e. cropping), forestry, animal husbandry, sideline activities, and fishery - that is, five types of activity. It should be noted that the term agriculture has two meanings in China: the broad meaning just described, or the narrow sense within that broad meaning as a synonym for cropping. The word agriculture in ‘gross output of industries and agriculture’, as quoted in the national statistics, denotes agriculture in the broad sense. The word agriculture in the name ‘Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Fishery’ (MAAHF), denotes agriculture in the narrow sense. (This name has recently been shortened to ‘Ministry of Agriculture’.) To many Chinese, agriculture just means to cultivate land to grow crops. The people who grow crops may occasionally breed one or two pigs, keep a dozen or so fowl, plant trees around their house or village, or weave straw or bamboo articles in their spare time - but these are all minor activities. Of course, this is not the view of the minority nationalities who rely on animal husbandry. But they form only a very small proportion of the total population of China, and they make only a small contribution to the country’s total production. These minorities, then, are an exception, and the Chinese as a whole usually look upon crop cultivation as the mainstay of agriculture.