Dr. Zhang publishes chapter on The Political Ecology of Industrial Crops

The future of maize in China is currently at a crossroads. It is not clear whether it will continue to be protected by strict food self-sufficiency regulations as a strategic staple food crop (alongside rice and wheat), or whether it will be reclassified as an industrial crop and abandoned to market dynamics similar to soybeans. This chapter examines different forces that push and pull in each direction, revealing where the balance currently lies in this tug-of-war, and what political, economic, and ecological transformations could be expected across different regions of China. This chapter draws upon an in-depth analysis of Chinese scientific literature and primary data from two provinces in China to describe the policy transformations regarding the classification of maize and analyze who stands to benefit and lose through this process. It identifies how policy transformations have followed the increasing trend toward the industrial use of maize for livestock feed, biofuel, and very diverse starch-based industrial products. Yet the government continues to classify maize as a strategic staple food crop, even though less than 5% is consumed directly as food each year. This chapter argues that the promotion of silage maize has emerged as the main compromise at this crossroads, and its advancement is likely to concentrate agribusiness production further in the hands of wealthy investors and displace small-scale agroecological production among peasants.

https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9780429351105-14/political-ecology-maize-china-li-zhang