Research On Cotton Production And Marketing Of Henan Province In 1920-1937

As an economic crop,cotton enjoys a long history in China.Henan province,located in the central of China,boasts a fine climate and soil for cotton planting,which could be traced back to Yuan dynasty.However,limited by natural economy and poor transportation,the yield and acreage of cotton planting there have been in a lower level all along.In modern times,with the huge demand for cotton caused by the development of cotton textile at home and abroad and the improvement of railway to other provinces,government,domestic non-governmental organizations,and even foreign powers started to promote cotton planting in Henan out of various purposes,and farmers there began to enlarge their planting areas consciously or not as well.Before the eruption of Anti-Japanese War,the whole province had planted cotton all around,and had formed six cotton areas:Lingbao cotton area and Luoyang cotton in the west,Anyang cotton area and Xinxiang cotton area in the north,Taikang cotton area and Deng County cotton area in the east.Besides,in the 1920s and 30s,the cotton planting in Henan is with three features as following:Firstly,the cotton planting is in an universal but unbalanced condition;Secondly,with the acreage of Chinese cotton falling down,foreign cotton tends to rise;Lastly,the average yield of cotton per mu has not increased actually,for the total increase of cotton yield mainly comes from the expansion of its field area.Apart from a small scale of cotton directly conveyed to consumers in rural market,most cannot be sold to cotton mill directly,but through the original trafficking and one or more transports to get to the final consumer markets.The cotton produced in Henan has a large number of export,in addition to meeting its own need.Because of different distances from cotton transfer markets to final consumer markets,as well as the various transport routes available,the cotton collected in the transfer markets will be sold to different markets.The export targets of Henan cotton are:Shanghai,Hankou,Tianjin,Wuxi,Qingdao and Jinan,among which Shanghai and Hankou rank the top of total quantity.However,some serious problems still could be seen there,like faking in the course of circulation,unification between weights and measures and packaging standards,and increased circulation costs by heavy tax,which adversely affect the circulation of Henan cotton.In this period,the impact brought by cotton expansion on Henan cotton farmers in different classes was different.Considering the ample food and investment needed for planting,and cotton's ability to withstand natural disasters and market fluctuations in prices,rich peasants and landlords can gain a higher yield by growing cotton in their extra land comparing with crop planting.However,poor farmers and sharecroppers are more likely to suffer the economic loss by planting cotton for lacking such safeguards.Judging from the circulation of cotton,the circulation of cotton in Henan has given rise to the prosperity of cotton packing,transportation and flower,as well as the strengthening of the city's economic function.