Chapter 17 1. How much food is needed to feed the stomachs of 1.2 billion people?

China has a population of more than 1.2 billion, but only 1.92 billion mu of arable land, which is only 1.55 mu per capita. This is China's unique national conditions, and it is also the reason why China's food problem is particularly important. Most of the substances and more than 95% of the protein consumed by humans are obtained from the land, of which more than 80% of the calories and more than 75% of the protein come from the food provided by the cultivated land.According to calorie calculation, a person only needs 125 kg of grain per year to maintain life; if he wants to maintain a certain physical strength and maintain a good nutritional status, he must consume 230 kg of grain per year; It is necessary to consume 300 kilograms of grain; and if one wants to maintain better physical strength and a more adequate nutritional status, one must consume 400 kilograms of grain every year.

Although China is a developing country, due to the emphasis placed on food production by the Party and the government and the concern for people's lives, China's food consumption has exceeded the level of maintaining sufficient physical strength and adequate nutrition, approaching and reaching the world's advanced level. A person's food consumption includes direct and indirect two parts.Direct consumption refers to people’s direct consumption of food, including staple foods such as rice, steamed buns, and steamed buns for three meals a day (that is, rations); snacks, bean products, rice noodles and other non-staple foods (that is, food industry food); and beverages and wine. .Indirect consumption mainly refers to the grain consumed by raising livestock and poultry. Although people do not directly consume grain, they eat it after converting grain into animal meat (such as pork, beef, mutton, chicken, etc.) in the form of feed.With the improvement of living standards, indirect consumption has gradually become the main consumption.

The grain consumption of a country mainly depends on two aspects, one is the state of grain production, and the other is the state of people's income, both of which are in direct proportion.Here we have a group of composition of per capita grain consumption in 1986: first, about 273 kg for rations; second, about 11.2 kg for food industry; third, about 10.1 kg for drinks and wine; fourth, about 69.8 kg for feed The sum of the above four items is the food that a Chinese person needs for a year, which is about 354 kilograms.If industrial grain and seed grain are added, the total is 391 kg.

In 1997, there was no accurate classification statistics.According to expert analysis, the grain consumption in 1997, except for rations remained basically the same or declined slightly, the other items all increased. What stands out is the obvious increase in feed grain, because our consumption of pork and other animal meat has increased significantly.According to the statistics of the National Bureau of Statistics, in 1997, my country's per capita possession of meat was 50 kg, eggs were 17 kg, and milk was 6.6 kg, which had exceeded or approached the world average level.According to this calculation, in 1997, my country's per capita grain consumption was about 388.3 kilograms, and the total grain consumption in the country was 480 million tons.

We know from the previous chapter that in 1997, the total national grain output was 492.5 million tons, roughly in line with the consumption, and the supply and demand were basically in balance with a slight surplus. 480 million tons, what a huge number, what a majestic grain mountain!It accounts for 1/5 of the world's total grain production.Such a huge consumption is beyond the imagination of many countries.The United States is a big grain producer, but its total annual output is only over 300 million tons, while that of France is only 50 million tons, and that of Japan, West Germany, and the United Kingdom is only a few million tons.From this we can see the pressure and risks of China's food issues.

No wonder many countries are surprised: China has fed 1.2 billion people and met the food consumption demand of 480 million tons. On October 1, 1949, 300,000 people in the capital gathered in Tiananmen Square to grandly hold the founding ceremony.Amidst the cheers of the masses, Chairman Mao Zedong solemnly declared on the Tiananmen Gate: "The Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China has been established!" However, as the founder of the Republic, Mao Zedong knew very well that what he inherited was a mess full of holes.The most difficult thing is the problem of eating.Due to the corrupt rule of the Kuomintang government, coupled with continuous wars and frequent disasters, the total grain output in 1949 was only 113.18 million tons, a drop of 12% from 1936. It is in the hands of a small number (about 10%) of landlords and rich peasants. Therefore, the possession and consumption of food are extremely unbalanced. Poor peasants, farm laborers, and urban workers and citizens, who account for 90% of the total, fall into poverty, starving and on the verge of being unable to eat. living situation.As a result, hungry people were everywhere at that time, starving to death.For this reason, many Westerners asserted that New China would collapse because it could not solve its own food problem.

Mao Zedong, as the son of a farmer, knew how important it was for a newly born country to solve the problem of feeding the people.Therefore, he not only included "grain as the key link" in the general policy of agricultural development, but also specifically formulated the "eight-character guidelines" for grain production of "water, fertilizer, soil, seed, density, security, management, and labor".With the courage and mind of a great man, he led hundreds of millions of people across the country to develop water conservancy, build terraced fields, reclaim wasteland, transform mountains and rivers, "dig deep holes, and accumulate grain widely"... As the first leader of the Republic, he set out to solve the problems of the Chinese people. He has made an indelible contribution to the problem of eating.Although there were many twists and turns and ups and downs, since then, except for a food crisis in the three-year difficult period from 1959 to 1962, China has never experienced large-scale famine again. The vast majority of Chinese people At least there was food to eat.

From the perspective of per capita grain possession, in 1952, the country's total grain output exceeded the level of 1936 for the first time, reaching 163.92 million tons, and the per capita grain possession was 275 kg, an increase of 66 kg over 1949. This is the biggest leap, a big leap from famine to food and clothing. It is a pity that the leaders of the republic who believe in "more people, more power, more heat" have ignored the side effects of population development.Even in the next 20 years, although my country's total grain output and per unit yield increased year by year, the per capita grain possession has been hovering around 300 kilograms. In 1965 it was 268 kg and in 1978 it was 316 kg. In the past 29 years, my country's per capita grain possession has increased by 107 kilograms, an average of only 3.9 kilograms per year.

In 1979, my country implemented the household contract responsibility system, which mobilized farmers' enthusiasm for production, and another big leap occurred in grain production.This year, per capita grain possession reached 342 kg, an increase of 26 kg over 1978.In the next few years, it fell back and hit another peak in 1984. The total national grain output exceeded 400 million tons, and the per capita grain possession reached 392 kilograms, the highest record since liberation. In the following 10 years, the total grain output and per unit yield continued to increase, but the increased part was offset by the increased population.Even in 1997, when my country's total grain output reached 492.5 million tons, which became the second harvest year in history, the per capita grain possession was still only 398.5 kilograms, an increase of only 6.5 kilograms compared with 1994.

In the past 49 years, my country has exhausted its efforts and made great efforts in grain production. However, although the total grain output has increased by nearly 4 times, the per capita grain possession has only increased by 1.8 times, only restoratively reaching the level of the Qing Dynasty. s level.According to statistics, at the end of the Warring States period, my country's per capita grain possession was 460 kilograms, reaching 628 kilograms in the Tang Dynasty, 579 kilograms in the Song Dynasty, 559 kilograms in the Ming Dynasty, and 314 kilograms in the middle of the Qing Dynasty.Of course, in a society ruled by feudalism, the amount of grain per capita is far from being able to explain the grain consumption of Chinese people.Because of the exploitation system of feudal society, a large amount of arable land is in the hands of a few landlords and rich peasants, and the corresponding vast majority of grain is also controlled by them. Therefore, the real grain possession of farmers, citizens, and workers is pitifully small. Basically starving.This is what the poet described as "the wine and meat of the rich men stink, and the road has frozen bones".But now, our country implements the socialist system and adopts the distribution principle of distribution according to work, and the possession and consumption of food are basically balanced across regions, classes, and industries across the country.In other words, my country's current per capita grain possession is actually "everyone's possession"; per capita consumption is basically "everyone's consumption".This is the real reason why our country's per capita food possession is not high, but it has basically solved the problem of food and clothing.

Even so, my country's current grain possession is far from meeting the requirements of social development.Over the past 50 years, we have made various efforts. We only broke through the level of 400 kilograms per capita in 1996, which is the baseline for a country to completely solve the problem of food and clothing.The per capita grain possession in some developed countries even exceeds 1,000 kilograms, reaching a state of "surplus".Like the United States, as early as the late 1980s, it reached 1500 kg, Canada was 1997 kg, and Australia was 1838 kg. Per capita grain possession determines my country's per capita grain consumption. When the whole country was liberated in 1949, my country's agricultural production was severely damaged due to the corruption of the Kuomintang regime and frequent wars. The corresponding food consumption dropped to an extremely low level, and the vast majority of farmers and citizens were in a state of starvation or semi-starvation.After liberation, our country adopted a series of measures to develop grain production, and at the same time strengthened the management of the grain market, and cracked down on the behavior of illegal grain merchants hoarding grain for speculation, which basically alleviated the hunger crisis at the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China. In 1952, my country's per capita grain consumption gradually increased to 197.6 kg. Since 1953, my country began to implement the grand first five-year plan. With the development of production, the national income increased by 45.2%, the average wage of employees increased by 42.8%, and the income of farmers increased by 27.9%.Our people's consumption of basic consumer goods such as grain, beef and mutton, cooking oil, and sugar has grown rapidly.By 1957, the grain consumption of our people had increased to 203 kg, pork to 5.08 kg, and beef and mutton to 1.11 kg.This means that eight years after liberation, the Chinese people have finally embarked on the road to food and clothing from hunger and cold.For the first time, the basic living needs of the vast majority of people in the country have been initially met. "Eat enough, dress warmly, live a stable life, and feel at ease." It is a true portrayal of people's consumption level and psychological state during this period. If it is said that from 1949 to 1957, the consumption level of the Chinese people showed an upward trend year by year in the first 8 years and reached a peak in 1957, but since the second 8 years, this momentum of development has suffered setbacks year after year. Decline, to the trough in the early 1960s.The National Bureau of Statistics has made statistics on the consumption level of residents since the founding of the People’s Republic of China at comparable prices. If the consumption level index in 1952 was set at 100, it would have risen to 122.9% in 1957, and dropped to 99.4% in 1961, which was still lower than that in 1952. year level.Compared with 1957, grain consumption decreased by 8.4%, edible vegetable oil consumption decreased by 47.8%, and pork consumption decreased by 80.6%.The reason for this situation has been discussed in detail before, that is, natural disasters plus man-made disasters.The "Great Leap Forward" and "exaggeration" that were divorced from reality, coupled with severe natural disasters, caused a sharp decline in agricultural production across the country, and food production in particular shrank sharply.The Chinese who had just started to have enough food and clothing fell into the claws of hunger again, and severe famines occurred in many parts of the country. After 1961, the party and the government began to adjust the national economy, and industrial and agricultural production gradually returned to the road of healthy development, reaching its peak again in 1965.The consumption level index rose from 99.4 in 1961 to 132.7, exceeding the level in 1957.However, since the consumption level index covers a wide range of statistics, the per capita consumption in my country in 1965 did not increase much compared with that in 1957 in terms of the consumption of "eating" that people feel more directly, and there is still some improvement in some aspects. decline.What stood out was grain, which dropped from 203 kilograms to 183 kilograms. In addition, edible vegetable oil, beef and mutton also dropped, and only pork rose slightly. After 1966, China fell into a catastrophe of the "Cultural Revolution" which lasted 10 years.Political madness, coupled with blind population growth (200 million people have been added in 10 years, equivalent to the total population of Japan and France), industrial and agricultural production and people's lives have basically stagnated.By 1976, my country's annual per capita grain consumption was 190 kilograms. Compared with 1965, the increase was only 7 kilograms in 11 years, and the average annual increase was less than 1 kilogram.An average of 15.8 kilograms per person per month, which is why the 14.5 kilograms of rice allocated to public officials in the country at that time was still difficult to get in place, and some sweet potatoes and the like had to be used to make up for it.Pork increased from 6.29 kg in 1965 to 7.38 kg, an increase of only 1.09 kg in 11 years, an average annual increase of less than 0.1 kg.Others such as edible vegetable oil, beef and mutton not only did not increase, but declined.At that time, there was a completely absurd point of view, that paying attention to food and clothing was a "bourgeois way of life", advocating "the poorer, the more revolutionary", "the more patches, the better the thinking", so that most people made revolutions hungry, People's living consumption has been suppressed at a low level, and many places have not escaped hunger and poverty. In 1976, after the fall of the "Gang of Four", the 10-year turmoil finally came to an end. However, at that time, due to the continuation of the "Left" ideological line, and the past policy of suppressing consumption in the economic field, industrial and agricultural production and People's consumption level is still stagnant.It was not until the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China was held in 1978 that China entered a new era of reform and opening up, and the level of industrial and agricultural production and people's consumption in our country increased rapidly and substantially. Since 1979, my country's per capita grain consumption began to increase significantly, reaching 207 kilograms in this year, and 249 kilograms in 1988, an increase of 42 kilograms in 10 years, with an average annual increase of 4.2 kilograms. , but only increased by 7 kg.Per capita pork consumption reached 9.66 kilograms, which increased to 14.91 kilograms in 1988, an increase of 5.25 kilograms in 10 years, an average annual increase of 0.5 kilograms, while the average annual increase in the 10 years of the "Cultural Revolution" was less than 0.1 kilograms.Edible vegetable oil, beef and mutton also generally increased. After another 10 years, by 1997, China's consumption level had reached a considerable height. Whether it was grain or meat, it exceeded the world average level and approached or reached the world's advanced level. In 1997, my country's per capita grain consumption was 388 kg, 50 kg of meat, 17 kg of eggs, and 6.6 kg of milk.The consumption of grain, cotton, oil and sugar in my country increased by 0.62 times, 1.1 times, 3.1 times and 2.9 times respectively compared with 1978, and the consumption of pork, beef, mutton and milk products increased by 4.6 times and 6.1 times respectively compared with 1978. The development and change of food consumption level is restricted by various social factors, but the most important ones are the total national income and the income level of residents.The total national income is high, the growth rate is fast, and the income level of residents increases, which will inevitably lead to an increase in consumption level, which will be reflected in food consumption, which will expand in quantity and improve in quality.Our country's historical practice has proved this point.In addition, the level of food consumption has an obvious relationship with the total population.The level of food consumption is measured by per capita possession or consumption. Therefore, the level of food consumption is directly proportional to the total food supply and inversely proportional to the total population.Under the condition of a certain total amount of grain, the larger the total population, the smaller the per capita grain possession, and vice versa, the greater the per capita grain possession, which shows that the total population has a considerable impact on the level of grain consumption. Compared with 1949, my country's total grain output in 1979 increased by 2.96 times, but because the population increased by 1.8 times in the same period, the per capita grain possession only increased by 1.64 times.If the figures of 1994 and 1949 are compared, the impact of the total population on the per capita grain possession is more obvious. Compared with 1949, the total grain output in 1994 increased by 3.97 times, but because the population increased by 2.21 times, the per capita grain possession only increased by 1.8 times. The growth rate of per capita grain possession is lower than the growth rate of total grain output, and the reason is that it is offset by the increase in population.From the comparison between our country and foreign countries, we can also prove this point. In 1993, my country's total grain output reached 456.4 million tons, but the per capita share was only 385 kilograms. In the same period, the total grain output of the United States was more than 300 million tons, but the per capita share exceeded 1,500 kilograms. According to the total amount, my country is higher than the United States 1/3, accounting for the first in the world, but the per capita food possession is only 1/4 of that of the United States.In 1990, China's total grain output reached 446.25 million tons, and the per capita grain possession reached 390.3 kilograms. Since then, although the total grain output has fluctuated, but the general trend is to increase, the per capita grain possession has mostly declined. The vintage is only 374 kg.It was not until after 1995 that the per capita grain consumption got rid of the hesitant situation when the total grain output increased significantly, and stood on the line of 390 kg again. By 1997, it reached 398.5 kg, which was only one step away from the goal of 400 kg. away. Therefore, although China's total grain production ranks first in the world, and its per unit yield level has also entered the world's advanced ranks, due to its large population base, per capita grain production is still at a low level, only equivalent to 35% of the United States, and Canada's 19%, Australia 17%, Hungary 28%. On the whole, my country's current per capita grain consumption has basically ensured that my country will become a society with enough food and clothing.The per capita grain consumption of nearly 400 kilograms has not only basically solved the food problem, but also improved the overall living standard.Although it is only 1/3 to 1/2 of the per capita grain consumption of developed countries such as the United States, it has exceeded the world average level, far higher than that of developing countries, and close to the average level of developed countries. After 50 years of ups and downs, we have finally got rid of hunger, got rid of poverty, moved towards food and clothing, and are moving towards a well-off life!