Encountering Plant Materiality: Limits of Large-Scale Soybean Intercropping in China

Abstract

The Chinese government has promoted maize-soybean intercropping as a strategic measure to boost domestic soybean production and strengthen food security. As a ‘more-than-human’ actor, soybean has historically and continues to introduce uncertainties into agrarian change. By centering plant materiality in agrarian studies, this paper examines the intercropping project in Qing County, Sichuan Province, to explore how soybeans' materiality manifests through their relations with maize, different modes of farming and diverse product markets, ultimately challenging and disrupting the policy initiative. This paper further highlights the theoretical significance of integrating plant materiality and multispecies perspectives into critical agrarian studies. By emphasizing the interconnections between plant materiality and political dynamics, it contributes to ongoing debates on flex crops and deepens critiques of the anthropocentrism embedded in agrarian capitalism.