The output of major agricultural products has increased sharply since the establishment of the People's Republic of China.
Compared with 1949, the total production of grain in 1998 quadrupled from 113.18 million tons to 490 million tons; the output of cotton, oil seeds, fruits, meat and aquatic products increased by several times.
In 1949, no agricultural products ranked first in the world and the yields of major crops were far behind the world average. At present, productions of grain, oil seeds, fruits, meat, eggs and aquatic products all rank first in the world. Moreover, the yields of cereals, cotton and peanut are higher than the world average.
In 2000, the out put of grain, cotton and oil-bearing crops per capita reached 373.7kg, 3.5kg and 23.8kg respectively and the out put of meat, egg and aquatic products per capita reached 49.5kg, 18.1kg and 34.4kg respectively.
Calculated at the 2000 currency price, the total output value of agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery reaches 1,387,359 million yuan, 936,520 million yuan, 739,308 million yuan and 271,257 million yuan respectively in 2000 while in 1952, the total output value of agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery was only 39,595 million yuan, 728 million yuan, 5,172 million yuan and 605 million yuan respectively.
Generally speaking, successive good harvests and increased production have contributed to ending the shortage of farm produce and realizing general balance between supply and demand in average years and surplus in good years.
Edited by CECAT
2002/12/18
