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people applied themselves enthusiastically to the task, insufficient capital, the rigid application of ultra-Left policies such as the lop-sided emphasis on developing grain production which did not best utilize Hainan's tropical conditions, and poor technical support are all blamed for the slow progress in Hainan. During the Cultural Revolution in particular, the establishment of new plantations was discontinued, while large areas of mature coconut, rubber and coffee trees were felled to release land for grain production. Forests did not escape indiscriminate clearing: when liberated, there were 863,000 ha of tropical forest on Hainan, but by 1979 only 245,000 ha remained (Smil, 1983). Besides roads, one of the few benefits remaining from the ten turbulent years are the reservoirs and canal networks constructed to provide water for irrigation and generation of electricity.
Some of these problems were caused by inadequate communication between the central government and the grass-roots level, while others are a direct result of ignorance of the biological potential of the tropical environment. The latter was undoubtedly aggravated by debasement of intellectuals during the Cultural Revolution. Further, following the withdrawal of Soviet experts and technical aid to China in 1960, the fostering by Mao of an isolationist policy from both Eastern and Western blocs meant that technical and economic development had to rely exclusively on Chinese talents and expertise. Given the dearth of experience with tropical agriculture amongst the Hainanese, overseas Chinese who had worked on plantations in Malaya, Indonesia and Thailand, but returned to Hainan in the 1950's and 60's, brought a great number of skills with them and deserve credit for much of the achievement made in planting tropical crops. Returning farmers brought with them seeds of crops never before grown in Hainan, and after some nursery testing, pepper, oil palm, new coconut varieties and traditional medicines were sown commercially, initially on overseas Chinese state farms.
The "open door" policy
With the ousting of the "Gang of Four", a resolution on Hainan's development was passed by the State Council in 1980 which placed primary stress on tropical agriculture and associated
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people applied themselves enthusiastically to the task, insufficient capital, the rigid application of ultra-Left policies such as the lop- sided emphasis on developing grain production which did not best utilize Hainan's tropical conditions, and poor technical support are all blamed for the slow progress in Hainan. During the Cultur- al Revolution in particular, the establishment of new plantations was discontinued, while large areas of mature coconut, rubber and coffee trees were felled to release land for grain production. For- ests did not escape indiscriminative clearing: when liberated, there were 863,000 ha of tropical forest on Hainan, but by 1979 only 245,000 ha remained (Smil, 1983). Besides roads, one of the few benefits remaining from the ten turbulent years are the reser- voirs and canal networks constructed to provide water for irriga- tion and generation of electricity.
Some of these problems were caused by inadequate communi- cation between the central government and the grass-roots level, while others are a direct result of ignorance of the biological poten- tial of the tropical environment. The latter was undoubtedly ag- gravated by debasement of intellectuals during the Cultural Revo- lution. Further, following the withdrawal of Soviet experts and technical aid to China in 1960, the fostering by Mao of an isola- tionist policy from both Eastern and Western blocs meant that technical and economic development had to rely exclusively on Chinese talents and expertise. Given the dearth of experience with tropical agriculture amongst the Hainanese, overseas Chinese who had worked on plantations in Malaya, Indonesia and Thai- land, but returned to Hainan in the 1950's and 60's, brought a great number of skills with them and deserve credit for much of the achievement made in planting tropical crops. Returning farm- ers brought with them seeds of crops never before grown in Hai- nan, and after some nursery testing, pepper, oil palm, new coconut varieties and traditional medicines were sown commercially, ini- tially on overseas Chinese state farms.
The "open door" policy
With the ousting of the "Gang of Four”, a resolution on Hainan's development was passed by the State Council in 1980 which placed primary stress on tropical agriculture and associated
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