ABSTRACT
The process of developing China's economy requires that agriculture should produce a surplus over and above what is needed for the consumption of the rural inhabitants and their livestock and for seed purposes. This surplus is necessary to feed the population engaged in industry and mining, administration, commerce, and other non-agricultural occupations, to supply some of the essential raw materials of industry, to provision the armed forces, to export, and to build up reserves at home. Also many country dwellers, often whole districts, concentrate on non-food crops, such as cotton, and get their grain from elsewhere. The greater the quantities of agricultural produce drawn off from the cultivators, the quicker can be the development of other sectors of the economy.
