On Glutinous Rice Production In Southern China During The Period Of The Republic Of China

The cultivation of glutinous rice in southern China has a long history, especially in the Taihu Lake region and the southwestern region. Long-term cultivation not only retained many valuable germ resources, but also formed the customs of Glutinous Rice. This article takes the historical materialism as the direction, adopts the theories and methods of history, agriculture, economics, statistics and other related disciplines, and uses the analysis of literature material to study the characteristics and influence factors of production in southern China during the period of the Republic of China.This article has systematically studied the glutinous rice producing technology and economy in southern China during the period of the Republic of China, analyzed the relationship between the production of glutinous rice and it’s influence factors including politics, nature, society, economy and so on, and discussed the profound significance its diversity has to rice breeding in today.According to archaeological discoveries, the history of glutinous rice grown in southern China can be traced back to the Western Han Dynasty. During the last years of the Western Jin Dynasty, Northern population moved to the southern regions and promoted development of rice (including glutinous rice). In the mid-Tang, the Taihu Lake region had become the main producing areas of glutinous rice. And to the Southern Song Dynasty, the intensive technology of rice production in the south had been perfect. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, glutinous rice cultivation throughout the southern provinces, where there is rice, there is glutinous rice cultivation, and glutinous rice variety was also very rich. In the southern coastal areas. the commercialization production of glutinous rice had led to local glutinous rice cropping system changes.During the period of the Republic of China, the main producing areas of glutinous rice in the southern were Taihu Lake region and the southwestern region, where the glutinous rice resources were rich and adapted to different habitat. During this period, the acreage and yield of glutinous rice in southern provinces were reduced, especially after the Sino-Japanese War. And the modern agricultural technology by the Western influenced the production technology. The technology of Variety appraisal and pure variety breeding were applied on seed selection and breeding. And the agricultural machinery were applied on agricultural irrigation, the chemical fertilizers and chemical pesticides were also applied But the production were still traditional-based, and the new technologies were only limited to certain areas.During this period, the production of glutinous rice was influenced by government policy, war, natural disasters, production and consumption patterns The implementation of the "Reduce the glutinous rice and increase indica rice’" had greatly influenced the of the production of glutinous rice. Not only the glutinous rice breeding was stopped but the acreage was severely restricted. The frequent disasters and wars during this period cut the production of glutinous rice in southern China. And the self-sufficient production and consumption patterns hindered the expansion of the glutinous rice production scale. In most of southern China, the main aim of the cultivation of glutinous rice was to meet the farmers own needs, and secondarily to the market for sale.the period of the Republic of China is a nexus of time, the production of glutinous rice in southern China is on the transition stage from traditional agriculture to modern agriculture. The "Reduce the glutinous rice and increase indica rice" on the glutinous rice was not only affect the production of glutinous rice that period, but also the1950s-1970s. However, the rich variety of glutinous rice was retained and provided diversity of germplasm resources for today’s rice breeding. So summarizing the production profile, analyzing their characteristics and impact factors, not only conducive to a comprehensive understanding of the basic situation of the glutinous rice production in southern China in this period, but also to fill the relevant academic gaps and has great significance to today’s glutinous rice production and rice production.