Cultivating Decline: Agricultural Modernization Policy and Adaptive Resilience in the Yangzi Delta

Abstract Since it was initiated in the mid-2000s, Chinese central government’s agricultural modernization policy has had fundamental impacts on China’s system. Premised creating a foundation for long-term sustainable development, broadly expanded large-scale, mechanized farming. Historically, however, Yangzi River Delta achieved development without capital-intensifying and mechanizing technological innovation. Rather, diverse autonomous land use grassroots governance practices facilitated knowledge-sharing, knowledge-building, adaptation. Drawing this history as reference point analysis, I examine influence of adaptive resilience using case study township that an early recipient government funding support its contemporary effort to expand large-scale find implementation reform Ruilin undermined resilient features, rendering vulnerable disturbance.