Agricultural policy has gone through three broad phases: the 1950s, when agriculture was collectivized, ending with the Great Leap Forward (1958-60 see Glossary) the period from 1961 to the death of Mao Zedong in 1976, when more agricultural progress ÍÍÍÍcame to depend on the supply of capital and modern inputs and the period under the post-Mao leadership, which has been characterized by greater reliance on markets, prices, and incentives to boost production and to diversify output. (Inputs in this chapter refer to components of production such as land, labor, seed, fertilizer, machinery, tools, and irrigation water.)

Data as of July 1987