ENVIRONMENTAL-IMPACT ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF AGRICULTURAL TECHNOLOGY INCHINA - THE CASE OF THE DIKE-POND (JITANG) SYSTEM OF INTEGRATED AGRICULTURE-AQUACULTURE IN THE ZHUJIANG DELTA OF CHINA

The development of the environmentally conserving dike-pond system of integrated agriculture and aquaculture in the Zhujiang Delta of south China is traced to illustrate the impact of environmental changes on t echnological innovations. The technologies of dike building, land recl amation, pond fish culture, and crop cultivation on dikes, which were either independently developed or modified from ideas brought in by mi grant farmers from northern China, represented farmers' efforts to ada pt to the new characteristics of a changed environment as population p ressure increased. The new technologies revealed the farmers' awarenes s of the need for environmental conservation, However, increased popul ation pressure also necessitated more intensive use of the land, both in the highland and lowland regions, giving rise to inappropriate dike building and premature reclamation activities, which in turn brought about more frequent flooding in the delta region. Careless application of a new technology tended to have harmful effects on the environment . Political conditions in different periods of China's economic develo pment have also caused changes in the dike-pond system which has to ma intain high productivity and profitability. Recent advances in dike-po nd system technology have focused on crop diversification and animal h usbandry to match the three-dimensional characteristics of its ecologi cal components. New agricultural technologies can be successful in Chi na only if they can provide a balance between land use and conservatio n.