General geographic setting

East and South-East Asia [1] (hereafter referred to as “the region” [2]) are home to about 31% of the world population distributed among 17 countries, including some of the most populated ones such as China (ranking first), Indonesia(fourth), and Japan (tenth). Figure 5.4 shows the location of the countries in this region, identifying them by their three-letter ISO codes. The countries together span a huge climate and ecological gradient as their latitudes vary from about -19°S to 50°N, and close to 85° in longitude from Xinjiang in China to the islands of New Ireland in Papua New-Guinea.

Figure 5.4.Location of countries in East and Southeast Asia

Note: BRN: Brunei Darussalaam; CHN: China; IDN: Indonesia; JPN: Japan; KHM: Cambodia; KOR: Republic of Korea; LAO: Lao People’s Democratic Republic; MMR: Myanmar; MNG: Mongolia; MYS: Malaysia; PNG: Papua New-Guinea; PHL: Philippines; PRK: Democratic People’s Republic of Korea; SGP: Singapore;THL: Thailand; TLS: Timor Leste; and VNM: Vietnam. Mostly for ethnic reasons, PNG is often considered part of Oceania, although it shares the island of Papuawith Indonesia. The line between CHN and MMR, LAO and VNM marks the separation between East Asia and South-East Asia. Boundaries modified from GAUL_0 (FAO, 2017).

The largest share of the population (1,594 million or 72% of the region’s total population) occurs in Eastern Asia, including China,Myanmar, the Democratic Republic of Korea, Republic of Korea, and Japan (table 5.1).In both sub-regions of Eastern Asia and Southeast Asia, the rate of urbanization is close to 50%, with rates of 58% and 45% respectively, [3] resulting from a recent rate of change of about 30%. Overall, however, the population in Eastern Asia grew only 5% since 2001, which is less than the growth in world population of 12%. Needless to say, since China’s population represents 87% of the East Asian population, all trends affecting the sub-region are de facto Chinese trends. This applies, in particular, to the sharp rate of decrease in the rural population since 2001-2005 (-17%) due to a combination of factors,including foremost the recently relaxed one-child policy.

Table5.1. Comparison of selectedagricultural indicators in Eastern Asia, Southeast Asia and the world

Note: “Average” stands for the average of whichever years are available in FAOSTAT between 2011 and 2015. “Irrigated”stands for “equipped for irrigation,” which may differ from “actually irrigated”. C% is the percentage of change between the average of 2001-2005 and 2011-15; it is thus not the annual rate of change. The local food availability ratio (LFA ratio) was computed as local production divided by availability, which in turn is obtained as local production plus imports minus exports.

The climatic environment and agriculture

Due to the wide geographic extension, combined with a very varied topography (figure 5.5), the region covers about 15 climate classes (figure 5.6) conditioned by altitude and continentality in east Asia, while topography has a limited influence on the prevailing tropical (continental Southeast Asia)and equatorial conditions (maritime Southeast Asia). The climate range results in a similarly complex agricultural environment ranging from cold desert conditions in the north (too cold for winter crops, but favorable for irrigated summer crops or livestock husbandry; D and B climates) to temperate conditions that can accommodate both winter and summer crops. (Additional detail will be provided below in the comments about the crop distribution map (figure 5.9) after examining the constraints linked to water shortage, which are dominant in the northern sub-region.)

Figures 5.7 and 5.8 illustrate the water availability in the region. Significant amounts of rainfall in excess of 1000 mm annually occur in areas roughly south of the Yangtze in China, the Korean peninsula and Japan.They are the same areas where a weak positive water balance (rainfall-evapotranspiration, see figure 5.8) appears along a north-south gradient, reaching large excesses in Indonesia (Borneo, Papua province and, to some extent, western Java), parts of the Philippines, and in Papua New-Guinea. A climates are typical tropical forest areas, which are also conducive to plantation crops such as rubber and oil palm. This directly influences the ratio between arable land and permanently cropped land, which reaches high values in some countries in the region, for instance 1/1 in Papua New-Guinea or 1/5 in Malaysia.

A large share of the population actually lives in the basin of the rivers that flow from the Himalayas, creating some complex situations that typically characterize international rivers (see the Mekong in Figure 5.9) in that climate in one location, for example in Tibet and Yunnan, can affect crops at far distances, such as in the Mekong Delta, more than 3000 km away.

Overall, the distribution of rainfall during the year—either in winter (parts of Mindanao, Sumatra, and most of the Cf climates in China), summer (most of Cw climate in China), or throughout the year (much of the equatorial belt), the length of the growing season and rainless periods (just two or three winter months in Hainan), cold weather, and the availability of non-rain sources of water, together result in a large diversity of crop growing seasons.

Crop distribution and irrigation

As mentioned, climate and irrigation water availability largely condition the distribution of the crops cultivated in the region (figure 5.9). While the highest latitudes can cultivate only summer crops due to cold winter (such as in Northeast China), more temperate areas grow mostly winter wheat and summer crops (especially rice and maize, and frequently soybean, sunflower and potatoes as well) until tropical climates are reached along a latitudinal gradient in continental Southeast Asia with areas where cropping intensities frequently exceed 100%. Here, in A climates, the main crop is usually harvested at the end of the year around the time that a secondary crop is planted, to be harvested in May or June. In the Cf climates of eastern Asia, multiple crops are practiced under irrigated conditions, often involving a winter crop and one or two summer crops.

Rice, the preferred cereal in eastern and southeastern Asia, dominates the agricultural landscape from the south of Japan, the southern Korean Peninsula, and the remaining region approximately south of the Yangtze. Wheat still remains confined to higher latitudes but, as also discussed below, the continental Southeast Asian countries are making efforts to develop the crop. The recent trends also show that maize is likely to continue expanding, essentially at the expense of rice, in most of the region where the crop is climatically suitable, with or without irrigation, a concept that covers several levels of water control. 

In the driest areas, where natural moisture is always in short supply, water can be obtained only from rivers, where available, or from aquifers, at least during part of the year if temperature conditions permit. It is typical, in tropical areas (Am or Aw in figure 5.6), that irrigation is applied during the season when rainfall is insufficient, but temperature is conducive to plant growth. It is common, in all A climates, to have the dominant rice crop cultivated behind bunds that retain rainfall. Strictly speaking, the rice cultivated under those conditions (lowland rice) is rainfed and may occasionally suffer drought, just as upland rice, which is also cultivated using only rainfall. 

As shown in figure 5.10, Irrigation percentages up to 25% are common along the Pacific coast of the region in Northeast China, the Loess region, Southeastern China, and most of the region south of the Yangtze, including continental Southeast Asia from Vietnam to Myanmar. Higher irrigation percentages (>25% to 50%) occur along the Yangtze and in patches in western Gansu-Xinjiang, southern Sagaing and southern Ayeyawaddy delta in Myanmar, and the Red River area in Vietnam. Next, even higher irrigation densities (>50% of land irrigated) are most relevant in China (Huanghuaihai and the Yangtze delta) and Vietnam (Mekong delta). Highest irrigation percentages (75% and above, sometimes reaching more than 90%) occur in central Liaoning province (Northeast China) and in northern-central Thailand where double and triple rice cropping is practiced in Suphanburi, NakhonPathom, Nonthaburi, PathumThani, PhraNakhon, and Si Ayudhya and adjacent areas. The listed areas in Thailand and China are somehow comparable to central California and the Nile delta, but very far from reaching the level of irrigation occurring in the area from Punjab (Pakistan and India) and Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, where virtually all land is irrigated. 

In maritime Southeast Asia, irrigation is less widespread due to equatorial conditions with regular water supply throughout the year. It is, however, practiced in the northern Philippines (central Luzon and the Cagayan valley), as well as in limited areas in Indonesia (Tengah and Timur at Java), which happen to be areas where the full humid tropical climate (Af) gives way to winter dry climate as the distance to the equator increases.

Crop Production

China not only “dominates” all population statistics in Eastern Asia (87% or the people in the sub-region are Chinese), but the same is true for agriculture. China produces an even larger share (96%) of both cereals and tubers, indicating that, in spite of fast industrial and economic growth, agriculture retains a larger importance than in some other countries in the sub-region, especially Japan and the Republic of Korea. When considering the larger region, the share of China decreases to 67% and 65% (cereal and roots and tuber production), with Indonesia and Thailand coming next with 11% and 5% shares for cereals and 11% for roots and tubers in both countries. Vietnam comes third with shares of 6% and 4%, respectively. When compared to the Southeast Asian sub-region alone, the percentages for Thailand, Indonesia, and Vietnam increase about threefold. 

Figure 5.11 shows the relative contribution of the region and the two sub-regions to the global production of main crop groups, while table 5.1 adds detail about recent change dynamics. Due to the specific features of diets in the region, where meat plays a subordinate role compared with plants, vegetables is the only category where the region produces more than half of the world output (58%) while vegetables in the broad sense (that is, including roots and tubers) reach 47%. As far as dynamics are concerned, the increase in production of cereals (+31% in eastern Asia and +32% in the southeast of the region), fruits (+71% in eastern Asia), and potatoes (+28% and +21%) all exceed the worldwide recent growth rates of +22%, +29%, and +14% respectively). 

The figure given for cereals hides the fact that wheat (31% and 45% for the two regions respectively vs. 16% globally) and especially maize (+62% and +63% vs. 41%) are growing fast, while rice is lagging behind in eastern Asia (+14%). Together with the southeastern Asian countries, the regional increase of rice production reaches 20%, a value close to the worldwide value of 21%. The most significant decreases are those of pulses and especially soybeans. For pulses, the 14% increase over the last 15 years (to be compared with +25% for worldwide production) was brought about by a decrease in eastern Asia that reached 21%. Similarly, the stagnation of soybean (0% change since 2001-2005) is due to a large decrease in all eastern Asian countries and a modest increase of 11% in the southeast. This compares with the spectacular worldwide increase (+39%) of a crop which, together with maize, is one of the favorite crops of the moment, largely owing to the large demand precisely in eastern Asia. In 2016, however, due to changes in policy, soybean production increased for the first time in China after a more than decade-long decrease that was compensated by massive imports. 

Owing mainly to climate conditions, oil crops (in particular oil palm, a typical plantation crop in A climates) are the only category where southeast Asia out-produces the eastern sub-region (58 vs 17 million tons of output) and where the rate of change since 2001-2005 is one of the highest (+75% or 53% above the global rate of change). This comes, however, at a large environmental cost as deforestation rather than agricultural land reallocation is the source for the new land. 

Individual country situations cannot be dealt with at any length in the limited frame of this rapid overview. Statistics do confirm the liking of the region for maize with a number of countries increasing their production by more than 50% (China, 68%; Indonesia, 74%; Lao, 534%; Myanmar, 125%; Philippines, 53%; Papua New-Guinea, 66%, and Vietnam, 68%). The list includes Vietnam, a significant exporter of maize, next to Thailand (+14% “only”). Actually, Thailand and neighboring Myanmar both put a lot of emphasis on cassava (+50% and +1286% increases in production, respectively, with +92% in Vietnam) and, interestingly, in wheat (+44% both), of which the production is currently insignificant in Southeast Asia,  among others because the crop cannot compete with other commodities in the Af climates of maritime Southeast Asia. For roots and tubers, in addition to cassava, farmers in the region have also increased the production of potatoes (Thailand, +50%) and sweat potatoes (Malaysia, +94%), as well as other traditional crops such as yams in Laos (+587%) and Cambodia (+2120%), as well as Myanmar (+109%), confirming the come-back of a country that used to be a major exporter of rice thirty years ago. 

Finally, rice production doubled in Cambodia, an isolated observation regarding a crop that is so well established in the region (59% of world production) that it dominates the landscape, the diet, and the culture… while at the same time losing ground to other summer crops, especially in the eastern Asian sub-region.

Trade

Figures 5.12 and 5.13, based on FAOSTAT data, represent sums of exports/imports of the individual countries inside the two sub-regions. However, as such they do not take into consideration that exports to or imports from countries inside the group do not actually leave the group and should not be counted.

Nevertheless, the figures show that exports from Southeast Asia, for instance for sugar (sugarcane), exceed those of Eastern Asia, while food imports in all categories tend to be largest in Eastern Asia, again reflecting the weight of China in terms of production and trade as well. Eastern Asia imports about 60 million tons of soybeans, which is almost entirely absorbed by China (90%) with the rest going to Japan. Of the 56 million tons of cereals that go to Eastern Asia, 26 go to Japan, while the Republic of Korea absorbs 13 million tons and China (including the province of Taiwan) 17 million tons. In all Eastern Asian countries, the cereal imports are made up by approximately one-third of wheat and two-thirds of maize, while China usually also imports some other coarse grains next to maize (such as barley and sorghum as animal feeds) and about 2 million tons of rice as well. The most remarkable—and often quoted—success stories in the region include the export of refined sugar from Thailand (up 29% from the early 2000s) as well as rice exports from Vietnam, which rose 77% in about 15 years. During the same period, Japan reduced soybean imports by 45% to 3 million tons, and maize imports by 10% to 15 million ton.

Southeast Asia imports 28 million tons of cereals distributed as follows: Indonesia, 11 million tons; Malaysia, 5 million; Vietnam, 4 million; the Philippines, 4 million; and Thailand, 2 million. The volume is made up (approximately half) by wheat, with the difference shared equally between maize and rice. Southeastern Asia imports 6 million ton of soybean, which go mostly to Indonesia and Thailand in about equal shares (2 million tons) and to Vietnam and Malaysia. The sharpest changes in food imports over the recent decade include a 129% increase in maize imports to reach 3 million tons in Indonesia, a doubling of wheat imports to Vietnam (which now exceed 2 million ton annually), as well as the already mentioned soybean bought by China. Wheat imports where quintupled in a decade in China, while maize climbed from 50 thousand tons in 2008 to 5 million tons in 2012, equivalent to a more than hundredfold increase in just five years, mostly to take advantage of favorable international prices and to pave the way for some internal reforms. 

[1] Unless otherwise specified, the data used for section 5.2 is takenfrom FAO (FAOSTAT, http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data) and the World Bank(http://data.worldbank.org/indicator).

[2] Eastern Asia and South-East Asia are referred to as “sub-regions”.“Recent rate of change” refers to the percent change between 2001-2005 and2011-15.

[3] Urbanization keeps increasing in most areas (with rates as high as 94% in Japan and 100% in Singapore, where crop agriculture disappeared in the1990s), while the share of agriculture GNP drops. For example, in Vietnam thisshare today is 17%, down from 40% in the late 1980s; in Cambodia it is still90%.

[4] Upland Rice is often cultivated at high elevations, whereprecipitation is abundant. The defining factor, however, is not elevation butthe fact that the crop is rainfed and not cultivated in flooded fields. Uplandrice can thus be cultivated at sea level if precipitation permits.

[5] In tropical countries, wheat and other temperate cereals (such as barley) are typically grown as an irrigated crop in Aw climates where the cold and dry seasons coincide.