<i>Small Holder Incomes, Food Safety and Producing, and Marketing China's Fruit</i>*

Abstract

O of the most wrenching changes in China’s agricultural economy over the past decade and a half has been the rise of horticulture in the cropping sector. Between 1990 and 2006 cash crops have risen from 35% of sown area to 47% (NSBC). Fruit and vegetable area are responsible for most of the growth. Between 1990 and 2005 vegetable sown area nearly tripled, increasing from 6.34 million hectares to 18.22 million hectares. Fruit area also nearly doubled, expanding from 5.32 million hectares to 10.12 million hectares during this time period. Whether a cause or an effect or whether they emerged simultaneously due to a different (or similar) set of drivers, during this same time period modern supply chains have also emerged. From its start in the early 1990s, supermarkets achieved over $55 billion in sales in the mid 2000s (Hu et al.). The restaurant industry has also experienced high growth for most of the past two decades (Ma et al.). These two trends, while indicative of a rapidly growing economy that is catering to a consumer base with more and more wealth, also has created two