ABSTRACT
Historically, China is an agricultural country in which agriculture is predominant in the national economy. For political and economical reasons, the Chinese cropping system has been characterized by a high concentration of grain crops since 1949. Hence, the cropping structure was very rigid and under-diversified. However, the cropping system has experienced a general trend of on-farm diversification from grain to commercial crops over time despite frequent fluctuations. In other words, an increasing amount of land has been allocated to cash crops, such as jute, sugarcane, peanuts, vegetables, and fruits in place of cereals, like rice and wheat. This trend became more pronounced in the post-Mao period-1978 onward-when the opening-door policy to international trade and the market-oriented reforms were implemented.
