An American view of how that nation manages its soil resources
Excerpt
IN the summer of 1981, we visited the People's Republic of China to study soil management and productivity as part of the continuing scientific and technological exchange between the U.S. and Chinese governments. We toured communes, research institutes, agricultural colleges, and provincial and county bureaus of agriculture in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and the provinces of Shaanxi, Sichuan, Jiangsu, and Guangdong. We also visited the Northwest Institute of Soil and Water Research in Shaanxi and met with personnel from the Institute of Soil Science of Academia Sinica in Nanjing.
We toured a cross section of China, from the cool northern grasslands to the southern tropics. Although we did not visit the agricultural northeast, arid northwest, or high-altitude southwest, we did have opportunities to discuss these areas with Chinese agriculturalists.
Institutional structure
The Chinese Ministry of Agriculture consists of 17 bureaus responsible for specific commodities. It also has bureaus for foreign affairs, education, science and technology, and a National Academy of Agricultural Science (NAAS). Thirty-two NAAS institutes focus …
Footnotes
Harold L. Barrows is chief of Soil, Water, and Air Sciences, National Program Staff, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C. 20250; Ralph J. McCracken, the team leader, is deputy chief for natural resource assessments, Soil Conservation Service, USDA, Washington, D.C.; Raymond J. Miller is dean of agriculture, University of Idaho, Moscow; William R. Oschwald is director of the Cooperative Extension Service, University of Illinois, Urbana; Thomas N. Shiflet is director of ecological sciences, SCS, USDA; and Roland R. Willir is state conservationist, SCS, USDA, Stillwater, Oklahoma.
- Copyright 1982 by the Soil and Water Conservation Society
This article requires a subscription to view the full text. If you have a subscription you may use the login form below to view the article. Access to this article can also be purchased.