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Farmers’ Plight in China

Nan Shan

February 2002

People who advocate for China’s entry to World Trade Organization (WTO) have to agree that China’s accession will have a great impact on its agriculture. During the last ten years before the accession, however, farmers already could not bear the burdens of high taxes and charges and increasing educational and medical expenses while the price of rice was decreasing, water conservancy was damaged and flood and draught occurred as the result of environmental destruction. A great many of young people went to cities and towns for working only to prop up their heavy burdens.

I recently visited a hamlet in Xiaochang Xian, a poor county of Hubei province in mid China and got to know some specific hardships of farmers through locals and those returned. Hubei province originally was one of the main areas producing grain in mainland China and had been regarded as, since ancient times, a land rich and popular and flowing with milk and honey. Now the taxes and charges there are very high; “heavy taxes and charges in Hubei province hounded seven farmers to death” in one year time according to a previous news report. (Ming Pao, Jan 26, 2002)

1. Land & the Burden on Framers

At the end of 1981, people in a village there no matter newly born child or elderly got their contracted fields of 1.2 mu (appro. 800 sqm)each the first time (people in a closed county only had half mu each due to its bigger population). The field is mainly used for growing rice, wheat and rape. More fields do not mean a good thing: farmers should pay high taxes and charges proportionally no matter whether the field is used for cropping or not.

It was listed on the official document in 1999 that the taxes and charges for a 10-person family with 12 mu contracted field was USD 200. However, the family needed to pay $300 actually. It was a big increase compared with the $20 in 1982 when the field was contracted to them the first time. I was told that the main reason for the increase in taxes and charges was the ten times increase in number of village carders compared with 20 years ago.

The income of the family was appro. $525. That means the taxes and charges paid were equal to 57% of the total incomings from contracted field.

Besides contracted field, farmers were also distributed some badlands (dry land) growing peanut and rape to make oil, or growing vegetables and keeping chicken and pigs, which were mainly for in-house use.

II. Water Conservancy & Natural Disaster

According to farmers, there was triple cropping of rice in the past. Now per mu yield becomes less and less. Meanwhile weather becomes hotter and hotter (it may related to global temperature rise), and water resources are reducing. There are only wheat and rice grown in a turn.

Farmers had some negative comments on the collective (commune) period. But improvement in water conservancy then deserves mentioning. For example, in the 1950’s not long after the land reform, some reservoirs were built there so as to supply agricultural water (there is no river running in the hamlet). The first one was finished in 1957. After field was contracted to each family, the local government did not look after water conservancy any more and caused some water courses blocked. Besides, some duckers raised their animals in a reservoir and made the water contaminated. But nobody supervised them.

In July 2001, the county encountered long time drought. The small village I visited had most serious situation since it is topographically higher than other places. All the reservoirs and wells were dried out and all crops were died. Even people did not have water to drink. Pressed by these conditions farmers organized a delegation of 20 to 30 persons combined with representatives from other villages and sat at the gate of county government petitioning. Some officials informed farmers to select six to seven representatives. Then villagers chose some eloquent persons to speak out their requirement and ask for help. The government agreed to offer water free of charge until the draught was over. But the result was that the government delivered water to each village with a car once every three days, only up to three times. After that it rained a little. Water filled in wells and the draught was eased up. But there were no way for all crops back.

This was the first time that local farmers expressed their claim by collective action. In days, two to three hundred of people from different villages had gone to the county government petitioning.

According to some people there, Chinese government allocated 8 million to improve water conversancy after the draught. But only hundreds of thousands of it were used for the project. The rest money went into the pocket of local officials at different level of government.

III. Electricity, Power and Telephone

Usually there was a coal stove in a farmer’s house but they would use straw and haulm to cook instead because they are cheaper. One person fires the straw while the other one cooks. It costs a lot of time. Moreover the ventilation in the kitchen was not so good and smoke and fumes filled the room while cooking. Many middle aged women got eyes as well as respiratory system damaged.

Among the 25 families in this village, only one could afford to install a telephone. The installation cost 300 Yuan, after which it was charged according to the actual speaking time. This family did not farm any crop, however. The householder was working in county government.

IV. Family, Marriage and Birth Control

I had done a simple study on the village’s population, which had included all married daughters of householders, but not include their daughter-in-law. This way more easily reflected the actual situation.

The village had 25 families, total 133 persons; an average of 5.32 persons per family. Each was consisted of a householder (usually a man), his wife, parents and children. There were three children in each family on an average, maximum seven.

Partner of a young people generally came from different village. Go-betweens would help to make a match. When their children were getting to their marriage age, parents usually were very anxious to find partners for them. Under heavy social and family pressure, many young people got married only knowing a little about their partners, which caused numerous unhappy marriages.

Most young couples would live with the man’s parents (unless both of the couple went out for working) since they could not afford to build another house. The new daughter-in-law might not adapt to the new climate and the relationship between family members.

The idea of “men should handle external matters, while women look after the home” was manifested. During the Spring Festival, women usually cooked in the kitchen while men entertained guests or pay a New Year call.

Men normally are the main labor forces for farming since they are stronger. Women also do farming in busy seasons, but they also play the traditional role of cooking and looking after the elderly and younger.

Since they do not enjoy retiring benefit at all, farmers can only be supported by their sons when they are aged. A married daughter usually need to maintain her husband's family so that they are not able to support their own parents. Hence, farmers must have a son. It explains why there is a favoritism of men over women in the rural area.

The village did not strictly carry out the “one child policy” until 1994. But if the first child is a girl, then the family can have a second child 5 years later. No matter the second child is a girl or boy, the family should not have the third one. Now there is not any cases of killing female baby happened; over 90% of women in pregnancy will experience ultrasonic scanning. If they find the baby is a female, they will have an abortion even they will have parturition soon. Strangely enough, among the 75 children in the village, 41 were females while 34 were males. There were still move females than males.

Some farmers think that birth control is a more serious problem than the retained and overall planning fees. I was told that the poorest family in the village even did not have a stool just because the family had two extra children and could not afford the penalty, which resulted in their furniture taken away and even the stool spilt open. The preliminary purpose of birth control was to reduce burden of population and improve people’s lives. But it has actually made the poor poorer.

Here was a case in Huangmei county of Hubei province: in 1998, a lady who already had two daughters wanted to have a son. Therefore she went to Wuhan City for working when she found herself in pregnancy, intending to have a birth secretly. The village committee discovered the truth, however and appointed three persons to go to Wuhan and escorted her back; the lady was then forced to have an abortion even when she had in pregnancy for 8 months. To the lady’s sad, it was a boy. If they had $2400 for penalty, they could already save the baby.

In 2001, another lady, who already had a daughter, from the same Huangmei county was working outside when the village birth control office urged her back for a pregnancy check. But the boss would not let her go and she missed the right time. As a result her family was fined of $36 Yuan; their TV set was taken away. They did not retake back the TV until the lady came back for a check and injected a contraceptive ring later on. But the fine was not returned.

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