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The Lüshi chunqiu 呂氏春秋 includes four chapters on agriculture, namely Shangnong 上農 "The supreme importance of agriculture", Rendi 任地 "The requirements of the land", Biantu 辨土 "Discriminating types of soil", and Shenshi 審時 "Examining the seasons". These four chapters belong to the part Lun 論 "Discourses" and close the book.
The four chapters are the oldest surviving agricultural treatises in China. The chapter Shangnong discusses the necessity of emphasising agriculture while curbing commerce, outlining policies and measures to achieve this balance.
The part Rendi mainly focuses on the principles and methods of soil cultivation. It begins with land preparation, soil improvement, and management techniques, such as moisture retention, weeding, and aeration, with the aim of promoting healthy crop growth and high yields. Additionally, it identifies ten key factors affecting soil productivity, including the contrasts between strength and softness (hardness and cohesion), rest and labour (fallowing vs. continuous cropping), infertility and fertility, compactness and looseness, and wetness and dryness. It emphasises that these conditions can change under certain circumstances and that agricultural labour plays a crucial role in transforming soil properties to enhance their suitability for cultivation.
The chapter on distinguishing soils (Biantu) elaborates on cultivation techniques and methods for specific crops. It first establishes the proper sequence for cultivating various soil types. Then, it discusses three key drawbacks caused by improper soil cultivation and crop planting: "land theft" (diqie 地竊), referring to sowing too sparsely, which wastes arable land; "seedling theft" (miaoqie 苗竊), referring to overcrowded planting without adequate spacing, which leads to competition among seedlings and hinders growth; and "weed theft" (caoqie 草竊), where weeds obstruct crop growth. To prevent these issues, the text stresses the importance of timely ploughing and sowing, appropriate field layouts with well-proportioned furrows and ridges, and suitably spaced crops. It also advocates careful replanting and thinning to ensure an orderly crop arrangement. This structured layout enhances air circulation and light exposure and facilitates intertillage, ultimately optimising crop growth.
The final chapter on the observation of the seasons (Shenshi 審) primarily explores the relationship between human effort, land, and natural conditions in agricultural production, highlighting that "farming depends on human effort, the land for growth, and the heavens for nourishment." (fu jia, wei zhi zhe, ren ye; sheng zhi zhie, di ye; yang zhi zhe, tian ye 夫稼，爲之者人也，生之者地也，養之者天也。) This underscores that among these three key factors, human effort is the most crucial. The text lays stress on timely sowing and its impact on crop yield and quality. It explicitly examines six staple crops—millet (he 禾), glutinous millet (shu 黍), rice (dao 稻), hemp (ma 麻), soybeans (shu 菽), and wheat (mai 麥)—contrasting the outcomes of proper versus untimely planting. Through these comparisons, the essay reinforces the significance of adhering to the correct agricultural seasons to ensure successful harvests.