Comments and Revisions on the Report of the National Rural Work Conference
(June 7, 1954)
Comrades Liu Shaoqi and Deng Zihui:
I have made a minor revision on page three (2); please consider it as you see fit.
Mao Zedong
June 7
The contradiction between the demand for large-scale, planned increases in production and the scattered, privately owned nature of small-scale peasant economy, together with its backward agricultural technology, is becoming increasingly apparent, and the difficulties are mounting. These are two fundamental contradictions. The first principle for resolving them is to carry out a social revolution—namely, agricultural collectivization—by gradually transitioning from individual ownership by working peasants to collective ownership, and progressively moving toward socialism. The second principle is to implement a technological revolution, that is, to gradually introduce machinery into agriculture and undertake other technical reforms.
Increasing crop yields per unit area is currently the main avenue for boosting agricultural output. However, relying solely on the small-peasant economy has limited potential in this regard. While large-scale mechanization in agriculture represents a long-term prospect contingent upon industrial development, in the immediate years ahead we must focus on vigorously promoting agricultural collectivization and, on that basis, appropriately introducing whatever technical improvements are feasible.