A Study On Popularizing And Applying New-Style Irrigation Machinery In Jiangnan Region During Modern Times

Efficient irrigation machinery played a key role in agricultural production and food safety in modern times. Mechanization of irrigation machinery was an important target on developing the modern agriculture in China. The new-type irrigation machinery was firstly imported and used in Jiangnan region, and the irrigation implements entered in a new developing situation. The irrigation machinery was convenient and higher effective, and it stood for the new productivity. Moreover, the natural, economic and social environments in Jiangnan region were suit for the development of irrigation machinery in modern times. More than50years later, the irrigation machinery in Jiangnan region became the most common and the most successful agricultural machinery before P.R.C founded. Nowadays, it was enlightening that we studied on irrigation machinery in Jiangnan region during modern times.Irrigation machinery was one of the novel farm tools driven by man-made power, and its main components were the mechanic power and the pump. The power fell into three categories:holding-water style, revolving style and compressing style. The pump with internal combustion engine or electric motor was characteristic of simple structure and high efficiency, and it widely spread at rice cultivation places in Jiangnan region during modern times. Power was the core of the irrigation machinery. According to development of the power, the modern times could be divided into four periods:importing period (1897-1908), researching and developing period (1909-1919), fast-developing period (1920-1931), and declining period (1932-1949). Although there were continual campaigns in China, the irrigation machinery achieved considerable progress in more than50years, which embodied the request of agricultural productivity in Jiangnan region.Producing and selling the irrigation machinery was a basic link in course of its growth. A part of Westernized enterprises had ever imitated to produce new-style engines and pumps in Westernization Movement period, the relevant products couldn’t be popularized because of lots of limited factors. The irrigation machinery started to be made and to spring up at the turn of the19th and the20th centuries. Qiuxin Works in Shanghai had attained great triumph in imitating to produce internal combustion engines one after another from1909to1910, Qiuxin also could produce machinery driven by gasoline engines, and man-made powers could be coordinated by pumps. Diesel engines were successively imitated to produce in1919. Compare to the gasoline engine, the power of the diesel engine was more forceful, lower fuel fee, better stability, and was apt to be accepted by farmers. Successfully imitating the diesel engine was a token of a great triumph in localizing irrigation machinery. Electric motors were made in the early1920s in our country. The motor developed slowly in early time, because its products were poor quality, and they didn’t accord with the condition of our countryside. Huacheng factory in Shanghai couldn’t produce good quality motor products until1932, and Huacheng’s motors coordinated by Xinzhong’s pumps were sold together, so local motors hold superiority in motor sale market. Then our country’s irrigation machinery could realize localization.The irrigation machinery made in Jiangnan region was good in quality, large in quantity, which was most widely used in the region. Only the factories in Shanghai City, Wujin City and Jiangning City could produce a considerable amount of irrigation machinery at the beginning of1930s. The price of the irrigation machinery made in China was half to one third that of imported, which was convenient for farmers’ purchase and use. Traditional waterwheels were replaced by the irrigation machinery since the natural factors, that was continual droughty in Jiangsu and Zhejiang in the several years around1925, and the dragon-bone water lifts driven by man or ox couldn’t deal with the droughty, which stimulated the irrigation machinery fast developed. The area of irrigated farmland by modern machinery was about780-960thousand mu in Wuxi County from1933to1937, and about63-77percent of the whole farmland in Wuxi County was irrigated by machinery. The irrigation machinery had become an important irrigation style at rice cultivation places in Jiangnan region.The main body who shouldered the task of popularizing the irrigation machinery was the government, the cooperation and the farmer. The government took on more public responsibility, such as drawing up policy, fostering cooperation, organizing experiment, management and so on. Part of farmers who were already rich bought the irrigation machinery for enlarging production, for making huge profits of irrigation market. The irrigation cooperation was the main body in stimulating development of the irrigation machinery. Electric irrigation started in Jiangnan region in1924, and then the area of farmland irrigated by electric machinery enlarged quickly. The electric irrigation replaced the mechanic irrigation gradually and became the most popular irrigation method in the region.There were lots of various difficulties in course of popularizing and applying the irrigation machinery in modern times. The people in Jiangnan region creatively adopted the method of renting the irrigation machinery. Although it was in adversity, the popularization of the irrigation machinery had made remarkable achievements. Baodashui (an operating style of which the irrigation machinery was rented especially for profits) was already designed during the early time of importing modern machinery, and then the Baodashui was widely used. The Baodashui had several operative forms in management, such as contracting mechanism, monthly mechanism, hourly mechanism, chartering-by-farmland-area mechanism, chartering-by-electricity-quantity mechanism. The standard Baodashui operated by cooperation had a set of strict regulations on its staff’s work, and the regulations were complete. The most important reason why the Baodashui fast extended was in that it could attain huge profits. For example, a pump driven by24horsepower electric motor was run by Baodashui, whose fee of electricity, manpower, facilities and so on was about2262.5yuan per year, whose income of irrigating farmland, husking rice and so on was altogether about4080yuan per year. The irrigation machinery was mainly occupied by rich man. For sake of avoiding management risk, the lords of the Baodashui charged the "deposit for irrigation" or "earnest money"(commonly20to30percent of the whole price), which could meet the demand of funds for buying irrigation machinery. The lords of the Baodashui practiced in collecting fees by goods instead of by money during special times, for example, at the beginning of the operation of the Baodashui, at wartime etc, which could shift the economic burden onto the vast numbers of poor farmers. The Baodashui was obviously driven by profits.It was closely related to natural, economic and social environments that the irrigation machinery was popularized in Jiangnan region in modern times. The manufacturing industry in Jiangnan had attained to considerably high level in scale and in quality, which could produce more high-quality and cheap irrigation machinery. The agricultural commercialization continually developed, and the farmers should choose to use convenient and efficient irrigation machinery for sake of more profits. With development of the electricity, the electric irrigation was convenient, frugal and efficient, and the farmers were keen on it. The industrial and economic structure in Jiangnan region was adjusted, which led to a large quantity of bankrupted peasants transmitting to town and city, then to the structure of peasants’population changing. So the farmers’intent to using irrigation machinery obviously strengthened with the dislocation of agricultural population. It was the above factors that stimulated irrigation machinery popularizing and achieved outstanding success.It was of important significance that the irrigation machinery should be widely used in Jiangnan in modern times. At rice cultivation places in Jiangnan region, applying irrigation machinery not only enhanced the irrigated field area, increased rice production, reduced the economic and bodily burden on the farmers, exploited and leveled the farmland, enhanced ability of the crop in resisting natural disaster, but also improved the agricultural structure, stimulated labor transporting, carried the industrialization forward and so on.