1 Buck, J. L., Land Utilization in China (Nanjing: University of Nanking Press, 1937), pp. 124–27.Google Scholar

2 Shen, T. H., Agricultural Resources of China (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1951), pp. 378–387Google Scholar; Food and Agriculture Organization, Food Balance Sheets (Rome: FAO, 1955).

3 Demographic evidence is presented in Ashton, B.et al., “Famine in China, 1958–61,” Population and Development Review, Vol. 10 (1984), pp. 613–645CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Peng, Xizhe, “Demographic consequences of the Great Leap Forward in China's provinces,” Population and Development Review, Vol. 13 (1987), pp. 639–670.CrossRefGoogle Scholar Incredibly, the event still awaits a thorough socio-economic and historical analysis: why are Western scholars shunning the task?

4 Smil, V., “China's food,” Food Policy, Vol. 6 (May 1981), pp. 67–77.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

5 Food and Agriculture Organization, Food Balance Sheets 1984–86 Average (Rome: FAO), pp. 67–69, 174–76.

6 Bureau, State Statistical. China Statistical Yearbook 1993 (Beijing: SSB, 1994), p. 250.Google Scholar

7 A good example of this genre is Study Group on Grain Increase, “Agricultural situation becomes better, but fundamental problems remain unresolved,” Zhongguo nongcun jingji (China's Rural Economy), No. 10 (October 1989), pp. 37–42.

8 United Nations, World Population Prospects (New York: UNO, 1991), p. 354; United Nations, Long-Range World Population Projections: Two Centuries of Population Growth 1950–2150 (New York: UNO, 1992).

9 Ehrlich, P., “Eco-catastrophe!” Ramparts, Vol. 8, No. 3 (1969), pp. 24–28.Google Scholar

10 FAO/WHO/UNU Expert Consultation, Energy and Protein Requirements (Geneva: WHO, 1985).

11 Brown, L. and Kane, H., Full House (New York: W.W.Norton, 1994)Google Scholar; Brown, L., “How China could starve the world: its boom is consuming global food supplies,” Washington Post, Outlook Section, 24 August 1994.Google Scholar

12 Xueyi, Lu and Houyi, Zhang, “Some comments on current agricultural problems,” Zhongguo nongcun jingji, No. 3 (March 1993), pp. 3–7Google Scholar; Jiyuan, Chen and Yiming, Deng, “A discussion of China's re-entry into GATT,” Zhongguo nongcun jingji, No. 9 (September 1993), pp. 48–51.Google Scholar

13 Smil, V., Global Ecology (London: Routledge, 1993)CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Smil, V., China's Environmental Crisis. An Inquiry into the Limits of National Development (Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe, 1993).Google Scholar

14 Japan Economic Newswire, “60,000 cases of fake statistics found in 3 months,” China News Digest, 7 September 1994, p. 1.

15 Hongqian, Tanget al., “Investigation and analysis of the current problem of using arable land for non-agricultural purposes,” Nongye jingji wenti (Problems of Agricultural Economics), No. 3 (March 1993), pp. 45–56Google Scholar; Ruihan, Li, “Several issues concerning agricultural land,” Xinhua, 1 July 1994, BBC Summary of World Broadcasts, FE/2052 (20 July 1994), pp. G10–G13.Google Scholar

16 For more realistic appraisals of China's elusive farmland total see Tong, Wanget al., Zhongguo kendi dijian wenti de shuliang jingji fenxi (An Economic Analysis of China's Declining Cultivated Land) (Beijing: Jingji kexue chubanshe, 1992)Google Scholar; Smil, China's Environmental Crisis, pp. 52–56; Crook, F. W., “Underreporting of China's cultivated land area: implications for world agricultural trade,” China. Situation and Outlook Series (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1993), pp. 33–39.Google Scholar

17 Food and Agriculture Organization, 1993 Production Yearbook (Rome: FAO, 1994), pp. 3–14.

18 United Nations, World Population Prospects, p. 355.

19 F. W. Crook, “Slower growth for the agricultural economy in 1993,” China. Situation and Outlook Series, pp. 187ndash;19.

20 Lu Xueyi and Zhang Houyi, “Some comments,” p. 3.

21 Animal Husbandry Group, “Views concerning the prospects for growth of animal husbandry in China,” Nongye jingji wenti. No. 6 (June 1987), pp. 6–11; State Statistical Bureau, Yearbook 1993, pp. 344–46.

22 xinwen, Zhongguo she, 7 December 1994, BBC Summary of World Broadcasts, FEW/0363 (14 December 1994), p. G15.Google Scholar

23 xinwen, Zhongguo she, 18 February 1989, BBC Summary of World Broadcasts, FEW/0066 (1 March 1989), p. A2.Google Scholar

24 Xiaoping, Deng, “Current policies will continue,” Beijing Review, Vol. 28, No. 4 (1985), p. 5Google Scholar; Liu Bang, “Speaking of the good situation in rural areas,” Liaowang, No. 5, p. 6.

25 Kang, He, “Some 40 million Chinese suffer from hunger,” BBC Summary of World Broadcasts, FEW/0135 (4 July 1990), p. 1.Google Scholar

26 Macroeconomics Research Office (CAAS), “Analysis of China's grain production and recommendations for its development,” Nongye kexue tongxun (Agriculture Science and Technology), No. 6 (June 1993), p. 1.

27 FAO/WHO/UNU Expert Consultation, Energy and Protein Requirements.

28 Fan, S.et al., “Impact of eliminating government interventions on China's rice sector,” Agricultural Economics, Vol. 11 (1994), pp. 71–81.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

29 Food Development Research Group (CAAS), “Intermediate and long-term strategies for food development,” Zhongguo nongye kexue (Scientia Agricultura Sinica), No. 1 (February 1993), pp. 1–12.

30 Food and Agricultural Organization, Food Balance Sheets.

31 Webb, S. H.et al., “China's food consumption and production patterns in the year 2000: implications for trade,” China Agricultural and Trade Report (Washington, D.C.: USDA, 1992), pp. 38–45.Google Scholar

32 World Resources Institute, World Resources 1994–95 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1994), pp. 184–194, 351–55.

33 Animal Husbandry Group, “Prospects for growth.”

34 Grain Problems Study Group, “Basic estimate of the nation's grain situation,” Zhongguo nongcun jingji. No. 5 (May 1993), pp. 21–25.

35 State Statistical Bureau, Yearbook 1993, p. 328.

36 Smil, V., “How many people can the Earth feed?” Population and Development Review, Vol. 20 (June 1994), pp. 255–292.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

37 O'Mara, G. T. (ed.), Efficiency in Irrigation (Washington, D.C.: The World Bank, 1988).Google Scholar

38 Stanhill, G., “Water use efficiency,” Advances in Agronomy, Vol. 39 (1986), pp. 53–85.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

39 Jenkinson, D. S. and Smith, K. A. (eds.), Nitrogen Efficiency in Agricultural Soils (London: Elsevier Applied Science, 1989)Google Scholar; Munson, R. D. and Runge, C. F., Improving Fertilizer and Chemical Efficiency Through “High Precision Farming” (St Paul, MN: Center for International Food and Agricultural Policy, University of Minnesota, 1990).Google Scholar

40 Xinhua, , 8 September 1992, BBC Summary of World Broadcasts FEW/0248 (16 September 1992), p. A/3.Google Scholar

41 Lurui, Lianget al., “China's post-harvest grain losses and the means of their reduction and elimination,” Jingji dili (Economic Geography), No. 1 (March 1993), pp. 92–96.Google Scholar

42 Zhongyu, Maet al., “Animal feed holds the key to China's future food problems,” Nongye quhua (Agricultural Regional Planning) No. 6 (December 1991), pp. 10–13.Google Scholar

43 Because most Chinese pigs consume such a variety of largely low-protein feed, it is misleading to compare their grain-to-meat conversion efficiency with animals receiving only grain and high-protein meals.

44 Colby, W. H., “China's livestock feed industry,” China Agriculture and Trade Report, July 1991, pp. 46–50.Google Scholar