ABSTRACT
The origin of agriculture in China can be traced back more than 7,000 years. In the last century, especially in the past 30 years, the basic condition of China’s agriculture has changed greatly. In China, each hectare of arable land must support 7.5 people, which is a heavy burden. For a long period, agricultural modernization in China meant “mechanization, electrification, chemicalization, and adequate irrigation.” Many methods proposed in the alternative agricultural systems are not strange to Chinese farmers. They are similar to the methods practiced in their homeland for generations. In 1981, Ye Xan Ji proposed the concept of ecological agriculture as a development strategy for China’s agriculture. The concept of ecological agriculture in China is somewhat different than the current concept of ecological agriculture in Western countries. One of the main characteristics of agroecosystems in South China is that the scale of material and energy flow-through is larger than in corresponding agroecosystems in North China.
