Research On The Improvement And Promotion Of Rice Varieties By Japan In Northeastern China (1912-1945)

Northeast China is an important rice production area in China.As early as the neolithic age,rice was planted in the liaodong peninsula.However,due to the constraints of climate and water conditions,rice agriculture in northeast China had been developing slowly.After the opening of northeast China,Korean immigrants and Japanese colonialists who mastered the technology of rice planting in the cold land entered northeast China.On the basis of agricultural development of the upland field inside Shanhaiguan,they carried out agriculture production and practice in paddy field,which promoted the development of the rice planting in northeast China.The emergence and development of rice planting in modern times in northease China was closely related to Japan and Korea.In order to study the development history of rice production in northeast China in modern times,the development of rice production in Japan and Korea is a comparatively important.Therefore,this paper is mainly aimed at studying the development of rice production in northeast China by Japan.Rice varieties are the foundation of rice production.Especially in the harsh climate of northeast China,the improvement and promotion of rice varieties is the key factor of rice development.Therefore,the rice development in northeast China by Japan also mainly focused on the improvement and promotion of rice varieties.Based on the analysis of the climate and geographical environment in northeast China,the political and economic situation and the rice demand in Japan,the history of Japanese invasion into China,and the history of rice production in cold ground in Japan,it was found that the improvement and promotion of rice varieties in northeast China by Japan were associated with the following three factors.First of all,the northeast China was suitable for rice cultivation in terms of climate temperature,sunshine time,precipitation and arable land,which had great prospects for development.Secondly,rice was needed as material support for Japan’s foreign expansion,and domestic food shortage in Japan made rice necessary for filling the gap,leading to a sharp rise in rice demand in modern Japan.Thus the northeast China wastaken as its rice supply base;Finally,after Japan occupied northeast China by force and seized the right of developing northeast China,its technology of rice cultivation in cold region gotto be increasingly mature,and the subjective and objective conditions for improvingrice varieties in northeast China were well prepared.From a historical perspective,the improvement and promotion of rice varieties in northeast China by Japan could be divided into three stages:first was the initial expansion stage from 1912 to 1931,during which the improvement and promotion of rice varieties was encouraged,and the development area expanded to the central and southern part of northeast China.Secondwas the stage of control and adjustment from 1931 to 1938,during which the improvement and promotion of rice varieties was restrained.The development area was similar to the previous period and focused on the central and southern parts of northeast China.Third was the period of re-expansion from 1938 to 1945,the improvement and promotion of rice varieties were re-emphasized,and the development area was rapidly expanded to the northern part.In terms of specific technologies,the improvement of rice varieties in northeast China by Japan mainly includedthe introduction and breeding of rice varieties.Regarding theintroduction of rice varieties,Japan introduced the method of systematic introduction.Regarding the breeding of rice varieties,Japan introduced the technology of artificial hybridization and pure line isolation.In the aspect of the promotion of improved rice varieties,there were three sections:the selection of rice varieties to promote,the propagation of improved varieties,and the promotion of improved varieties.Specifically included four times of determining the rice varieties to promote,the establishment of the bases and introduction of technology for propagation,set up of the institutes for rice seed distribution,and the promotion of cultivation technologies and so on.In addition,the policies for rice planting propagation,distribution of good seeds,and promotion of rice varieties were also important contents in the improvement and promotion of rice varieties in northeast China by Japan.Based on the quantitative study of a large amount of data,it was found that in terms of rice variety improvement,the rice varieties developed by Japan had higher quality than those original local varieties in northeast China.In terms of rice variety promotion,Japan expanded its rice varieties from the southern part to the northeast part of northeast China with a significant expansion of planting area,which realized certain achievements.However,it also had obvious deficiencies.First,in terms of varieties improvement,the scientific research achievements in northeast China had obvious lag compared with those in Japan,Korea and Chinese Taiwan,and the speed of development was slow.Second,the dissemination rate of high-yielding varieties developed in northeast China by Japan was low,and the increase of rice yield mainly depended on expanding the cultivated area rather than increasing the yield per unit area.There are two main reasons for these problems.First of all,Japan restrained the development of rice cultivation in northeast China when it had excess grain in the Japanese domestic market,which led to the interruption of scientific research and promotion.Second,Japan adopted monopolized improvement and promotion of rice varieties,and provide these rice varieties in a discriminatory way,resulting in low enthusiasm of farmers to plant rice.Objectively speaking,the improvement and promotion of rice varieties in northeast China by Japan provided some support for the improvement of rice varieties in new China after its foundation in 1949,in terms of both technology and rice varieties.Additionally,it adjusted the grain planting structure in northeast China,and improved the technical level of rice planting in the cold region.However,the improvement and promotion of rice varieties in northeast China by Japan had its essential purposes of colonization and plunder.Through the policies of compulsory purchase and sale of grain and rice ration,Japan distributed the majority of increased rice production to Guan Dong Army and the Japanese pioneering immigrants,which strengthened Japan’s aggression and accelerated the colonization of northeast China.In addition,Korean farmers were used to encroach the land in northeast China during the Japanese invasion,while the improvement and promotion of rice varieties also promoted such encroachment,deepening the national contradiction between China and Korea.Finally,Japanese technology with the intention of colonial plunder did not significantly improve the rice productivity and the earnings of farmers in northeast China.On the contrary,the large-scale looting and exploitation by Japan led to the backwardness of people’s livelihood in northeast China.This history suggests that non-scientific factors may greatly interfere with the contribution of science and technology to productivity,and may affect the development of social productivity and the improvement of human welfare.There are several innovations in this paper.First,based on the research of the 40 yearstion of science and technology to productivity,and may affect the development of social prmatic study on the history of rice cultivation development in northeast China during the Japanese invasion.In addition,this paper delved into the issue of technology colonization and discussed the Japanese invasion into China from the perspective of rice varieties related technology.Secondly,in terms of historical stages,this paper initially attempted to defined stages for the improvement and promotion of rice varieties in northeast China by Japan based on the review of original literature,and proposed three stages as initial expansion,control and adjustment,and re-expansion.Thirdly,in terms of literature work,referred to authoritative catalogues such as "Joint Catalogue of China’s Collection of South Manchurian Railway Data" and "Catalogue of South Manchurian Railway Agricultural Literature",and extracted all relevant data about rice.Moreover,the bibliography was proofread by visiting relevant libraries in Japan,and the catalogue of rice related literature from South Manchurian Railway was compiled.Finally,as the conclusion of this study,the colonization and pillage nature of Japanese technology transplantation was explored,and the core ideological root of developing rice varieties in northeast China for Japan’s own interests was disclosed,based on the systematic study.This has important reference value for us to evaluate the role and influence of Japanese technology of rice varieties and to oppose the theory of supporting the contribution of colonization.