Agricultural input waste is worsening farmland pollution, and vigilance should be raised
"Major grain-producing counties discard over 10 million seedling trays every year, along with several million pesticide bottles and bags, most of which are thrown in the fields and at field edges, becoming pollution 'bombs' - a shocking sight." This is the problem of agricultural input waste worsening environmental pollution that many grassroots cadres and ordinary people reported during a recent interview by Banyuetan reporters in Hunan, a major agricultural province.
Reporter investigations found that in recent years, new varieties of agricultural inputs such as chemical fertilizers, pesticides and agricultural films have emerged one after another, with increasingly rich categories, which is conducive to improving agricultural production efficiency. However, the increase in varieties has also led to an increase in agricultural input waste, and combined with an incomplete recycling system, old seedling trays, pesticide bottles, pesticide bags and the like are discarded in large quantities in the fields and at field edges, causing agricultural input pollution to become increasingly complex and showing a trend of "old pollution not gone, new pollution arriving."
Agricultural Inputs Upgraded, Varieties Surging
Speaking of agricultural input supply, Liu Cuiqing, a major grain grower in Hengyang County, Hunan, believes that the past situation of shortages in agricultural input supply is gone forever. In recent years, agricultural input supply has been sufficient, and agricultural inputs have been upgraded, with more and more new varieties, bringing convenience to agricultural production.
He said that taking rice seedling cultivation as an example, in the past people either sowed directly in the main field, or raised seedlings in a seedling field and then transplanted them into the main field by hand. Although direct sowing in the main field saved time and labor, the seedlings were not strong enough, and when they encountered a "late spring cold snap" or "cold dew wind," large areas of seedlings would freeze to death. Raising seedlings in a seedling field could improve the seedling survival rate, but the method was too traditional and backward, consuming time and labor. In recent years, seedling trays have been promoted and popularized, the seedling-raising process is no longer so cumbersome, seedling quality is guaranteed, the survival rate has greatly improved, and it is also convenient for mechanical transplanting and throwing of seedlings, saving a great deal of manpower.
Compared with the past, there are also more and more varieties of pesticides. In the agricultural input market in Xiangtan City, dealer Peng Jianlai said vividly that in the past pesticide varieties were single and toxicity was relatively high, and farmers' approach to spraying pesticides to kill pests was similar to "better to kill a thousand by mistake than let one go." In recent years, this approach has been reversed. According to use, pesticide varieties have also become subdivided, generally divided into several major categories such as insecticides, fungicides, acaricides, nematicides, rodenticides, herbicides, defoliants and plant growth regulators.
Peng Jianlai told reporters that each category of pesticides is further subdivided into many varieties. At present, there are roughly more than 100 commonly seen pesticide varieties on the market. With pesticide varieties refined, farmers' pesticide application is more targeted, insect-killing efficiency is higher, and pesticide residues are also fewer.
As the planting area of various cash crops increases, plastic film has entered agricultural production in large quantities, some becoming mulch film and some becoming greenhouse film, and it is widely welcomed by farmers. Hu Xiaocheng, a major grain grower in Xiangtan County, told reporters that mulch film can maintain soil moisture, raise soil temperature, and prevent some pests and microorganisms from attacking crops, while greenhouses can grow off-season vegetables. From the perspective of economic benefits, these agricultural inputs bring one handsome account after another.
Old Pollution Not Gone, New Pollution Arriving
Although the economic account is handsome, many grassroots cadres and farmers also calculated an environmental account for reporters. They reported that as the types of agricultural inputs increase and the amount used increases, agricultural input waste is also surging, bringing serious pollution problems and further damaging the already fragile farmland ecosystem.
Pollution from pesticide packaging is already a commonplace topic. However, a detailed account calculated by an agricultural cadre who did not wish to be named is shocking. They told reporters that in some major grain-producing counties in Hunan, the annual grain sown area is about 1 million mu. According to the pesticide application habits of farmers in the south, about 3 bottles (bags) of various pesticides are used per mu per season. Therefore, the number of discarded pesticide bottles and bags produced in one year is as many as 3 million. If this account is expanded to the whole province and even the whole country, the result is undoubtedly worrying.
As a "new force" among agricultural inputs, seedling trays bring hidden but enormous pollution. Multiple major grain growers told reporters that, conservatively estimated, 50 seedling trays are needed per mu of main field. Considering factors such as the penetration rate of seedling trays and double-season rice, a single major grain-producing county uses no fewer than 12 million seedling trays a year. In addition, each seedling tray can generally be used continuously for two years. Therefore, a single major grain-producing county discards 6 million seedling trays every year. Many agricultural cadres reported that seedling trays are currently rarely recycled or treated, and once they no longer have use value, they are basically all discarded in the fields and at field edges.
A major agricultural county in the Dongting Lake area once conducted a preliminary survey and found that when disposing of pesticide packaging bottles or packaging bags, more than 90% of farmers choose to discard them on field ridges, in ditches, small rivers and other places, and only a small proportion take them back to the village for incineration and related treatment.
Reporter investigations in multiple major agricultural counties in the Dongting Lake area and central Hunan found that farmers mostly throw seedling trays, pesticide bottles and bags, mulch film and the like at field edges or into ditches. Large amounts of pollutants such as nitrogen, phosphorus, pesticides and heavy metals are carried into water bodies, seep into the soil, and cause serious harm to the ecological environment.
Many agricultural science and technology personnel told reporters that these agricultural input wastes are difficult to naturally degrade in the fields and at field edges, and are very difficult to handle. A major grain grower told reporters that seedling trays are made from recycled plastic, are very difficult to ignite, and even require pouring diesel on them to burn. "When burned, they give off very thick black smoke and the smell is very foul, causing great air pollution."
Implementation of Relevant Measures Faces a Test
Reporters found in many places that the agricultural input waste now scattered across farmland, field edges, rivers, pond edges and other places constitutes countless pollution sources large and small. Its distribution is widespread and random, and it belongs to typical agricultural non-point source pollution.
During this year's spring plowing period, the Ministry of Environmental Protection drafted the "Measures for the Administration of the Recycling and Treatment of Pesticide Packaging Waste (Trial)" (draft for comments), which clearly states the division of responsibilities, punitive measures, and construction of the recycling system for pesticide packaging waste. For example, it proposes that in the recycling and treatment of pesticide packaging waste, the principles of whoever produces is responsible, whoever sells recycles, and whoever uses returns shall be adhered to; pesticide production enterprises (including pesticide import enterprises) are responsible for the recycling and treatment of the packaging waste of their pesticide products; pesticide distributors are responsible for the collection and temporary storage of the packaging waste of the pesticides they sell; and pesticide users shall promptly return pesticide packaging waste to distributors and must not discard it at will.
However, whether these policies can be implemented at the grassroots level still leaves many cadres and ordinary people doubtful. Reporter interviews earlier also found that in some pilot villages for "Beautiful Countryside" and coordinated urban-rural sanitation construction, explorations had long been made in recycling agricultural input waste, but many difficulties were encountered. These pilot villages thought of many methods, but it was still very difficult to mobilize the masses to participate actively in recycling. In some pilot villages, under pressure from higher-level assessments, it ultimately even degenerated into "village cadres going door to door to collect garbage and going into the fields to pick up garbage," causing village cadres to complain endlessly.
A person in charge of the agricultural department of Hunan Province told reporters that many years ago, rural areas had a renewable resource recycling system, and the supply and marketing cooperative system undertook the function of renewable resource recycling. Farmers were also willing to accumulate pesticide bottles and the like to exchange for some pocket money. However, on the one hand, this recycling system stopped operating many years ago, and rebuilding it now is extremely difficult. On the other hand, rural society has already undergone great changes, and many farmers are unwilling to pick up and accumulate pesticide bottles and the like for a little money. How to encourage and urge them to participate in recycling requires relevant departments to conduct proper research.