Farming and optimal resource utilization in Guyuan,China

Since the late 1970s the Chinese have all but dissolved their collective agriculture and restored agricultural decision making to peasant families. Under recent reforms, open market pricing and rational shifts in crop and livestock patterns are the keys to change in rural China. In this study, a linear programming model is used to analyse expected changes in cropping patterns and maximum profit for farm production in the region of Guyuan. It incorporates constraints for government requirements as well as available resources. The results indicate several areas for possible improvement in the resources currently used in the region.