The Four Pests Campaign and Lysenkoism

TFPC was launced in 1958, declaring China to rid of all sparrows, rats, flies and mosquitos.

Party activists were sent to villages to encourage peasants to chase sparrows, making a noise by banging drums or pounding pots. A small reward was paid for the bodies of the dead birds. 

Trofim Lysenko - Ukrainian agricultural scientist who Stalin relied upon in the aftermath of the Russian famine of the early 1930s. 

By 1958, Lysenkoism was made an official policy, when Mao himself drafted an eight-point programme based on Lysenko's ideas in which farmers had to follow. 

Some were common sense i.e development of new farm tools, use of new breeds…