Reforms in Chinese Agriculture have had its successes and failures over time. Originally, the agricultural sector was operating under a centrally planned system and now it is working its way to a market-oriented agricultural sector. In this paper the focus is going to be on the positive and or negative effects of the Great Leap Forward Movement, The Cultural Revolution, the commune system, and, the "responsibility system." Furthermore, the performance of grain production over the period of 1952 to 1988 will be briefly discussed.

An important first movement was The Great Leap Forward Movement, which was headed by Mao Zedong in 1958. This movement brought about the creation of communes, which is a collective economic unit. This movement did not free the agriculture sector from the control of the central government. Even though team members officially owned the land, they had no say in any economic decisions. The team members just...