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This is the second of a series of four articles aimed at providing a genera
l analysis of the dynamic of rural intensification in China in view of sust
ainability, with a particular focus on the area considered in our project.
Data provided in this article confirms the analysis given in the previous a
rticle about global trends for agricultural changes. In the last decades, t
he agricultural sector of the Hubei province managed to cope with the drama
tic increase in demographic pressure by increasing more than proportionally
agricultural yields. This was paid for in terms of higher environmental st
ress and higher reliance on external inputs.
The challenge for future decades will refer to the need of matching an incr
easing socioeconomic pressure (=boosting the productivity of labor of farme
rs to get them a higher income and to make available surplus of food for th
e growing urban population) while limiting the environmental loading genera
ted by agriculture. Data describing the evolution of cropping patterns, pro
duction techniques, mix and intensity of inputs used in production in the l
ast decades seem to indicate that this would represent a formidable challen
ge. The nature of this challenge implies that the entire Chinese society mu
st be involved in order to negotiate viable compromises between the need of
: guaranteeing food security for China; raising the standard of living for
rural populations; preserving natural resources and ecological systems for
future generations.