Deng Xiaoping

Restore Agricultural
Production
1962

Spoken: July 7, 1962
Translated by: Unknown
Source: Deng Xiaoping Works
Transcription for MIA: Joonas Laine

Since we adopted some economic measures recently, I

must say the overall situation has improved a little. This is
not to say that our production has expanded in any way, only
that our readjustment effort has begun to yield results. The
shortage of food, clothing and other daily necessities cannot
be covered overnight, but as long as we continue our efforts
in line with the readjustment policy, we will be able to
overcome the difficulties and bring about an early turn for
the better.

We must set about restoring agricultural production if we

want to overcome difficulties and bring about a fundamental
turn for the better in the financial and economic situation. If
we fail in agriculture, there will be no hope of success in
industry, and the shortage of food, clothing and other daily
necessities cannot be filled up. Restoring agricultural
production calls for a series of policies, two of which are
primary. One is to arouse the peasants’ enthusiasm for
increased agricultural production, so that they will produce
more grain and restore the growth of cash crops. The other is
to have industry support agriculture.

In 1957 the grain yield amounted to 195 million tons, and

145 million tons last year. I cannot say for sure whether it will
reach 150 million tons this year, since the weather has not
been favourable. Some places suffered from floods and others
from drought. All things considered, the grain yield this year
will not be lower than last year’s, but even if it reaches 150
million tons, it will still be 45 million tons short of the 1957
level. We must try to find ways to restore grain production
within a certain period of time and, on the basis of increased
grain output, restore the production of cash crops.

It seems to me that the problem of agriculture must be

solved mainly through changes in the relations of production.
This means arousing the peasants’ initiative. At present there
are still a few rural people’s communes across the country
that maintain commune ownership. Since the people there
are unwilling to break them up, let them remain as they are.
Other communes have production brigades as their
accounting units, whereas even more communes have
production teams as the accounting units. In some places
where production teams form the accounting units, new
situations have appeared, such as fixing farm output quotas
for each household, holding households fully responsible for
the farmland they work, and implementing the principle of
“five unifications”. It looks as though more than 20 per cent
of the production teams have, in various forms, fixed output
quotas for each household, so this is no trivial matter. The
Party Central Committee will study answers to this question
at the meeting to be held this coming August. We now have
the policy of “letting a hundred schools of thought contend”.
A question of this importance should be open for discussion
in line with that policy to let everybody offer suggestions so
that answers can be found in the end.

As to what kind of relations of production is the best mode,

I’m afraid we shall have to leave the matter to the discretion
of local authorities, allowing them to adopt whatever mode of
production that can facilitate quickest recovery and growth of
agricultural production. The masses should also be allowed
to adopt whatever mode they see fit, legalizing illegal
practices as necessary. These are all tentative ideas, not final
decisions, so they will not necessarily come to pass in future.
When talking about fighting battles, Comrade Liu
Bocheng often quotes a Sichuan proverb — “It does not
matter if it is a yellow cat or a black cat, as long as it catches
mice.” The reason we defeated Chiang Kai-shek is that we did
not always fight in the conventional way. Our sole aim is to
win by taking advantage of given conditions. If we want to
restore agricultural production, we must also take advantage
of actual conditions. That is to say, we should not stick to a
fixed mode of relations of production but adopt whatever
mode that can help mobilize the masses’ initiative. At
present, it looks as though neither industry nor agriculture
can advance without first taking one step back. Can you not
see this? Is agriculture not now taking a step backwards? Are
communes not taking a step backwards? The accounting unit
has regressed from the commune through the production
brigade to the production team, because only by stepping
back can they go forward. At present, it is necessary to fully
arouse the masses’ initiative and tap their potential. The first
step is to revive the production of grain, to be followed by
cash crops. At the same time, we should gradually restore
supplies of farm implements and draught animals. All this
represents readjustment in the relations of production, and
for us it is a test. Of course, our entire Party should hold a
common view and be of one mind. For example, in order to
keep the production team as the basic accounting unit, we
shall have to convince the masses and strengthen the ranks of
cadres. This is one possibility. Another possibility would be to
legalize the practice of fixing farm output quotas for each
household. These are all just ideas; as for what measures
should actually be adopted, the entire Party, including the
Central Committee, is now considering the matter. We must
soberly deliberate these questions now. We failed to give
them enough consideration in the past, rashly placing the
entire country under a unified plan. In some cases, instead of
giving full consideration to the different conditions and
particular circumstances of different areas, we jumped to
conclusions and made everyone do the same thing. As I have
mentioned on other occasions, we have had too many
movements, launching a movement for each and every
undertaking, and all of them were nationwide in scope. It
seems that they have not worked out successfully. In some
cases we had no choice but to launch a movement, as, for
example, the agrarian reform movement. However, even that
movement was carried out with different methods at
different stages.

Everything I have discussed above has to do with the

policies to be adopted in the rural areas, all of which are
designed to help peasants harvest more grain, plant more
trees and raise more farm cattle. The peasants will be fairly
happy, when they can retain more grain for their own use and
turn over more to the state. Generally speaking, we must
consolidate the collective economy of the country, that is,
consolidate the socialist system. This is our fundamental
orientation. Of course, we must also solve specific problems
arising in our work and leadership. In the rural areas we have
to readjust the relations of production at the grass-roots level
and recognize the need of diversified modes of production. In
my own opinion, it may be better to have diversified modes.

To restore agricultural production we must also solve

problems concerning the relationship between urban and
rural areas. More city dwellers mean more grain to be
collected from the peasants, which will make it difficult for us
to restore agricultural production. For example, ten million
more city dwellers would require an additional 2 million tons
of grain; 20 million more would mean 4 million tons; 30
million more, 6 million tons. It appears that each person
could have only some 15 kg a month when 6 million tons of
grain is shared by 30 million people. Actually, this is an
immense amount, since there are only three hundred or so
counties across the country which are comparatively rich in
grain.

Two factors put pressure on the peasants for grain supplies,

one of which is the urban population. So, we must try to
reduce the population in the cities. Last year it was reduced
by more than 10 million people, and if it can be reduced by
another 20 million or more this year and next, we shall have
an urban population the same size as that of 1957. The cadres
in production brigades and teams under the communes
constitute the other factor squeezing the peasants for more
grain. There is a considerably large number of such cadres. If
we tackle the problem from the structural angle, cutting back
a large number of these cadres, the strain on the peasants will
be eased accordingly. If the peasants had more grain on
hand, they would have enough feed to raise pigs, and the
amount of draught animals would gradually increase since
they would not be dying in such great numbers. Of course,
this also involves the relations of production. For example,
how would draught animals be raised — mainly privately or
collectively?

By tackling the problem from the structural angle, I mean

altering the present relationships among the commune,
production brigade and production team. But how? The Party
Central Committee has discussed this question many times,
and comrades from provincial Party committees still hold
differing views. Most of them are in favour of actually
abolishing the brigade. Except for exercising leadership,
formulating plans, checking on work and issuing general
calls, neither the commune nor the brigade is in charge of
money or grain, nor would they administer trade when
supply and marketing co-operatives are set up in future. At
present hundreds of people are fed with public grain in each
commune, so this is a formidable problem. In fact, given the
size of its working personnel, the scope and nature of its
work, and its tasks, a commune is a large township as it used
to be and should be now, and the commune committee can
serve as the township people’s committee. We think only one
cadre will be enough for the brigade, who should take part in
production and will not be paid by the peasants, instead
receiving a subsidy from the state. This is one approach.
Another is to fix the amount of subsidy for the village to pay
the cadre as was done before. In future, a couple of brigades
could merge into a village with a village head, a Party branch
secretary and a clerk. The clerk would receive a subsidy from
the state for his work points. This will not only serve
considerably to reduce the amount of grain taken from the
peasants, but also improve the relations between the Party
and the masses, which is the greatest advantage.

In short, we should solve the problem of the relationship

between urban and rural areas by reducing the urban
population, which is a major policy, and by readjusting the
structures of the commune, the production brigade and
production team, which constitutes another major policy. We
should help peasants gradually improve their living
standards. This will in turn arouse their enthusiasm for
production and bring about hope for the recovery and
development of agriculture.

Another policy to help effect a recovery in agriculture is to

have industry render more support to agriculture. First,
industrial production in the service of agriculture cannot be
reduced and must be increased, and we need to solve the
problems in industrial production. Take farm machinery, for
example. Although we have exerted great efforts in this
regard for many years, we have not found satisfactory ways of
manufacturing farm machinery and tools suited to different
local conditions. In another example, although the state has
spent a lot of money on water conservation projects in recent
years, irrigation has yielded little result. Now we have to
rebuild the existing water conservation facilities and dig wells
in some places. In addition, in the production of fertilizers,
we should find out what kind of chemical fertilizer is suited to
which place. In short, industries in support of agriculture
cannot be cut back and must be run well. Second, industrial
production should be geared to people’s needs for food,
clothing and daily necessities so as to reduce the burden on
agriculture. We can gradually solve the clothing problem, for
example, with the help of industry. In 1957 we decided to
import the technical data and equipment for manufacturing
vinylon, but that decision was held up somehow. If vinylon
factories were set up, they would help alleviate the strain on
the supply of cotton and could exchange vinylon for peasants’
cotton. This exchange might then spur on agricultural
production. If we can help meet the need for clothing in this
way, we can help meet the needs for food and other daily
necessities in the same way.

To restore agricultural production, we must also solve the

problem of market and commodity prices. Markets must be
managed properly. The Central Committee has decided to
have supply and marketing co-operatives set up everywhere
in the country. If run well, these co-operatives can not only
facilitate trade but also help organize and promote
production, increase market supplies, and enable peasants to
earn more income.

In short, we shall have no hope of success unless we make

every effort to arouse the initiative of the masses, including
both peasants and city dwellers. It appears that we can find a
way to rehabilitate the national economy in a comparatively
short time. We should work hard to bring about a
fundamental turn for the better in our financial and
economic situation within five years, that is, during the Third
Five-Year Plan period, or sooner.

(Excerpt from a talk to all the comrades attending the

Seventh Plenary Session of the Third Central Committee of
the Chinese Communist Youth League.)