<P> Excavations at Kuahuqiao, the earliest known Neolithic site in eastern China, have documented rice cultivation 7,700 years ago . Approximately half of the plant remains belonged to domesticated japonica species, whilst the other half were wild types of rice . It is possible that the people at Kuahuqiao also cultivated the wild type . Finds at sites of the Hemudu Culture (c. 5500 - 3300 BCE) in Yuyao and Banpo near Xi'an include millet and spade - like tools made of stone and bone . Evidence of settled rice agriculture has been found at the Hemudu site of Tianluoshan (5000 - 4500 BCE), with rice becoming the backbone of the agricultural economy by the Majiabang culture in southern China . </P> <P> There is also a long tradition involving agriculture in Chinese mythology . In his book Permanent Agriculture: Farmers of Forty Centuries (1911), Professor Franklin Hiram King described and extolled the values of the traditional farming practices of China . </P> <P> Due to China's status as a developing country and its severe shortage of arable land, farming in China has always been very labor - intensive . However, throughout its history, various methods have been developed or imported that enabled greater farming production and efficiency . They also utilized the seed drill to help improve on row farming . </P> <P> During the Spring and Autumn period (722--481 BC), two revolutionary improvements in farming technology took place . One was the use of cast iron tools and beasts of burden to pull plows, and the other was the large - scale harnessing of rivers and development of water conservation projects . The engineer Sunshu Ao of the 6th century BC and Ximen Bao of the 5th century BC are two of the oldest hydraulic engineers from China, and their works were focused upon improving irrigation systems . These developments were widely spread during the ensuing Warring States period (403--221 BC), culminating in the enormous Du Jiang Yan Irrigation System engineered by Li Bing by 256 BC for the State of Qin in ancient Sichuan . </P>

In china which item would not be a resource in the production of rice