Areas of Sino-Indian Cooperation in Agriculture: Problems and Prospects

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94 percent of China's people live in the eastern 48 percent of China encompassing 86 percent of the cultivated land. Much of the rest of China is desert, grassland, mountains, and high plateau much less suitable for cultivation. The amount of cultivated land in the northwest is constrained by low rainfall and lack of irrigation; the area lags far behind the rest of China in economic development. In recent years, the government has expanded irrigated areas in the hexi corridor along the silk road in gansu province. The ministry of water resources has also engaged in planning for a large-scale irrigation project north of Urumqi in Xinjiang.
There is thus little to deliberate on scarcity of land resources for farm use in China. There is year on year loss of cultivable land. The problem is acute beyond proportion in the provinces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Guangdong in South China.
It is not just a problem of Quantity. Aggording to a study of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the first class land of agricultural use in China does not exceed 40 million hectarters of land.

Areas of Sino-Indian Cooperation in Agriculture: Problems and Prospects

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Topgraphy together with climatic factors, particularly temprature set the limit of the propensity of land use for crop production. Wang Haowang, a famous Chinese geologist has estimated 10 per cent of the Chinese land form as plain, 16 per cent as basin, 9 per cent hilly land, 35 per cent plateau, and 30 per cent mountain. Notwithstanding, every plant needs its own length of growing times. In China, in the region north of the Great Wall, there are less than 140 days when plants can grow. In the yellow river valley, the killing frosts between autumn and spring, sets the plant growing period to 222 days. In the Yangze valley, the growing period is 285 days. It is just southern most region where there can be vegetation through out the year. Besides, the regional distibution of water resources define the upper limit of actual cultivation potential of the land resource. While 58 per cent of cultivable land lay in northern and north eastern provinces of China, the region has just 14.4 per cent share of surface run off and ground water.

Areas of Sino-Indian Cooperation in Agriculture: Problems and Prospects

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The estimates of cultivated area in the PRC vary. This is not something very piculiar about individual estimates. Even the official estimatessuch as that of Chinese State Land Administration data do not vouch same oveer the period.
Land use change survey 2004 says that China had 122.44 miliion hectares of cultivated land. In comparison to 2003, the cultivated area shrank by 0.77 per cent. In absolute terms, there was reduction of 800,300 hectares. The reasons were reduction were many. Construction works devoured 145,100 hectares while 63,300 hectares were destroyed by natural hazards. Likewise,732900 hectares were turned for ecological preservation purpose and 2o4,700 hectares decreased due to agricultural restructuring. Simultaneously, 345,600 hectares have been added to total stock by reclamation, development and consolidation. There is another study which puts China's cultivated land to be around 113.31 million hectares between 2001-2010. It is estimated to increase slowly to 118. 98 million hectares by 2050.

Areas of Sino-Indian Cooperation in Agriculture: Problems and Prospects

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The arable area in the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Republic of India sustain respectively 1.12 billion and 1.32 billion people (July 07). It is a fine commentary on the carrying conditions of the soil in the two countries. The two countries are presently in the process of demographic transition, where the population size will unmistakably grow despite all family planning measures. This is despite substantial decline in average exponential growth rate in the two countries. It is presently 1.93 per cent Per annum in India and 1.22 in China.
The phenomenon has unstated bearing on the production potentials of the arable land at disposal in the two countries. In China, only about 10-15 per cent of the total land area can be cultivated. In India, it is staggering 56 per cent of the total land area that can be put to cultivation. India is thus better placed in comparison to China in land resources in absolute terms.

India and China: Partners in Growth

There is often talk about India and China confronting each other. The incident of 1962 border war and subsequent Chinese foreign policy thrust to aid and abate India's detractors primarily lay at the back of all such hypotheses.
India has been consistent. Be it epoch of extreme hostility or a thaw as it is now, India has held positive approach. It has never tried to fish in the troubled water. Even in the matter of Tibet issue, which, for most part the Chinese mandarine looked with suspicion, India maintained its stand. So is the case of Taiwan. Even when China employed its gun boat policy , India has re,mained placidly positive. It is not weak in any respoct in power projection that included the military might. China as much as India will do better to cooperate rather than target their guns. Nuclear issue as it comes before China as a member ofthe Nuclear Supplier Group shall give an opportunity to provve its diplomatic maturity. It should know for sure that the India nation was not going to be stopped.

Independent India

As Indians observe the 60th Anniversary of independence to day, it is heartening that the world community now understands in full what India means. There is United States of America (USA) at far end to literally give up its long distrust to the hearts and minds of Indian nation. Indo-US nuclear deal, better known as 123 Agreememt is a small token of new found American trust. It has not come in a flash. It has taken full 60 years to bloom. Our intent and purpose has been laboratory tested in full. Our patience and perseverence together with ingenuity has gone in background.We have near home china across our northern border, too, to come to terms, al beit not in full. There is Pakistan and Bangladesh, the two trunkated parts in the west and east to realize. There could be an umpteen number of cases where there is yet some problem spot. On the whole, the country has traveresed well to set and repose trust as a well meaning and responsible nation worth emolution.
Our pillars of pride include the "longest written constitution" that came into effect on 26th January 1950. It is supreme. The vagaries of political process can not affect it in any way. The power of the Indian court to review the legality of the law stands out as its impregnale armour.One could differ about its all time probity. One can ot yet deny its contribution in facilitaing democracy to flourish at the end of the day.