135
system". Originally introduced as a reform in the method of labour management, its evolution has led to fundamental innovations in the operation of production teams which have, in many cases, resulted in the virtual disappearance of all but the skeletal features of the collective economy (O'Leary and Watson, 1982). This has been accompanied by dramatic changes in the physical appearance of the cropping landscape of Hainan as the collective fields have been subdivided into parcels of various sizes for farming on a contract basis by work groups or individual households. Under this system, some households are earning more than US$5,000 per year. It is important to note, however, that while households or individuals have the right to use the land, the ownership of the land remains with the State (China Daily, Nov. 4, 1981).
In general, peasant farmers have responded to the "responsibility" policy with an enthusiasm that has doubled rural living standards and produced bumper harvests. For some, however, the dramatic change from the egalitarian policy of "eating from the one big pot" to quasi-capitalism is difficult to accept. In 1983, for example, it was reported that thousands of retired servicemen at military farms in Ya Xian, Hainan's most southern county, staged sit-down strikes, attacked party commissars in charge of the farms, smashed property, forced their way onto naval ships at Yulin Harbour, and virtually put the county government under siege (South China Morning Post, Mar. 11, 1983). The reason for the riot centred on the new party policy to make the military farms self-supporting by adopting the responsibility system. The disturbance so shocked the Beijing regime that Premier Zhao detoured to Hainan immediately upon his return from his month-long visit to Africa before returning to Beijing.
While the responsibility system has been most effective in increasing output of grain and household livestock (pigs and poultry), new policies have been formulated to expand ruminant production on the nation's 300 million hectares of grasslands. This new direction in agricultural policy was summed up by Premier Zhao Ziyang at the Fifth National People's Congress in 1981:
"In the past, our vision in agricultural production was
135
system". Originally introduced as a reform in the method of la- bour management, its evolution has led to fundamental innova- tions in the operation of production teams which have, in many cases, resulted in the virtual, disappearance of all but the sketetal features of the collective economy (O'Leary and Watson, 1982). This has been accompanied by dramatic changes in the physical appearance of the cropping landscape of Hainan as the collective fields have been subdivided into parcels of various size for farm- ing on a contract basis by work groups or individual households. Under this system, some households are earning more than US$5,000 per year. It is important to note, however, that while households or individuals have the right to use the land, the own- ership of the land remains with the State (China Daily, Nov. 4, 1981).
In general, peasant farmers have responded to the "responsibility" policy with an enthusiasm that has doubled rural living standards and produced bumper harvests. For some, how- ever, the dramatic change from the egalitarian policy of “eating from the one big pot" to quasi-capitalism is difficult to accept. In 1983, for example, it was reported that thousands of retired ser- vicemen at military farms in Ya Xian, Hainan's most southern county, staged sit-down strikes, attacked party commissars in charge of the farms, smashed property, forced their way onto na- val ships at Yulin Harbour, and virtually put the county govern- ment under siege (South China Morning Post, Mar. 11, 1983). The reason for the riot centred on the new party policy to make the military farms self-supporting by adopting the responsibility system. The disturbance so shocked the Beijing regime that Pre- mier Zhao detoured to Hainan immediately upon his return from his month-long visit to Africa before returning to Beijing.
While the responsibility system has been most effective in in- crease output of grain and household livestock (pigs and poultry), new policies have been formulated to expand ruminant produc- tion on the nation's 300 million hectares of grasslands. This new direction in agricultural policy was summed up by Premier Zhao Ziyang at the Fifth National People's Congress in 1981:
"In the past, our vision in agricultural production was
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.