The Influence Of The "Food For The Program" Policy On The Water And Soil Conservation Work Of The Loess Hilly And Gully Region Of Northern Shaanxi Province

Recently, environment changes become topical subjects in academic circles, and the system and policy factors are introduced into the fields of environment changes, which can be regarded as a new subject in this study area. This paper focuses on the "food for the program" policy which Chinese government had used commonly in agricultural front from 50s to 80s in 20th century and discusses about the influence of this policy on the water and soil conservation work of the loess plateau hilly and gully region of Northern Shaanxi Province. The experts in academic circles usually think that the application of the "food for the program" policy intensifies the soil erosion situation in loess plateau regions. But the author has his own idea and in this paper he takes Suide county in Shaanxi Province for example of authentic proof and study. In the detailed investigation and research, the author uses the method of document reading and on-the-spot investigation combination, consulting many files including Republic Central Government and Suide Local Government departments; investigating a series of achievements in the water and soil conservation work in Suide county since the founding of the People's Republic of China; visiting technical staff and the masses who took part in the water soil conservation work in the past and then the author gets the firsthand material. In this synthetical study, many subjects are related to, such as science and technology, history, economics, geography and the water and soil conservation engineering. The author hopes that all his try above could lead to a comprehensive and proper judgment for the theme of his paper.This paper includes seven sections and five parts. The first section serves as the first part. In this part, the author determines the object of the study, analyzes the situation of the study, makes clear about the content and significance of the study and finds the train of thought and main points of the answer to the problem according to the character of the material. The second part includes the second and third sections, which discusses the formulation, regulation and application of the "food for the program" policy in Suide county, analyzes the national macropolitical background during the formulation and application of the policy, shows the necessity and specific process of its application. The third part contains the forth and fifth sections, which begins with the construction of the two important food increasing production measures-silt arrester and terrace during the application of the "food for program" policy, investigates the construction skills, at the same time, discusses the effect it has on the food increasing production and the beneficial result of the water and soil conservation in terms of technology, and looks back the history of the construction and technology changes of silt arrester and terrace in Suide county. The sixth section forms the fourth part, which starts with the two basic forms of farmland improvement- the water and soil conservation of silt arrester and terrace, analyzes the benefits of food increasing production and the water and soil conservation relates to these two basic forms and evaluates objectively. The last part includes the seventh section, which serves as conclusion of this paper.Through the hard working and study, the author has the following understanding and conclusions:Evaluating the application of the "food for the program" policy, one must consider the particular national conditions and historical background. It is necessary to carry out the policy at the concrete historical condition, it has two-sided influence on the water and soil conservation work of the loess hilly and gully region of Northern Shaanxi Province, positive and negative. Because our Party's basic organization and government workers' wise decision and hard working, sticked to the mass line, they consider the special natural condition of the loess hilly and gully region of Northern Shaanxi Province when carrying out the policy, and adopt the projects such as silt arrester and terrace which are beneficial to both the food increasing production and the water and soil conservation work as well.The influence of the agricultural cooperation movement on the work of the water and soil conservation in loess plateau are also both positive and negative as well. The basic authority controls and organizes the labor forces, which helps developing the large-scale work of the water and soil conservation. But, the product distribution under this organization seriously lowers the working enthusiasm of the mass and their warmth and passion towards works. So the result is that it reduces the efficiency of the work of the water and soil conservation.There are many reasons for the water and soil conservation work doesn't make considerable development in the loess hilly and gully region of Northern Shaanxi Province. The most important of them is the "left-tend" mistakes spread during the period. Under the influence of this mistaken thought, highly increasing population demands higher food supply. "The Great Leap Forward" policy and the collective productive form seriously restrict the development of rural productive capacity. This leads to two results: one is the seeded area could not be decreased; The other is no more labor force is engaged in the work of the water and soil conservation.