How to balance pollution prevention and control with industrial development

The prevention and control of livestock and poultry pollution and industrial development form a process of continuous balancing and coordination; in handling this process, neither side can be neglected. All localities must take their actual conditions into account, neither allowing pollution prevention and control to affect industrial development, nor allowing the expansion of livestock farming to damage the building of a beautiful countryside. They should guide a virtuous interaction between the two, moving toward the goal of win-win development.

Recently, Yishui County in Shandong Province carried out a livestock and poultry pollution remediation campaign, allowing farmers whose emissions meet the standards to continue farming, while shutting down those whose emissions exceed the standards and have not completed rectification. The tug-of-war between pig farming pollution and industrial upgrading has aroused widespread public attention.

As one of the “six domestic animals,” the pig is an early domesticated farm animal in China, and many rural households have the habit of raising a “New Year pig.” Pig farming is not only the main source of household meat but also an important channel for increasing farmers' income. In recent years, as living standards have risen, people's level of meat consumption has also continued to rise. Where there is demand, there will be supply, and in the short term China's demand for pork consumption will still maintain a certain rate of growth.

Whether urban or rural residents, the demand for a beautiful rural ecological environment is growing stronger by the day. Livestock and poultry pollution is one of the main sources of rural pollution. With illegal discharge of livestock and poultry manure in rural areas, some villages are covered in feces and urine with unbearable odors, and the livestock and poultry breeding industry has become one of the largest sources of non-point source pollution in many rural areas, posing a severe challenge to the building of a beautiful countryside. Therefore, carrying out livestock and poultry pollution remediation campaigns out of the need to build a beautiful countryside and strengthen ecological and environmental protection is entirely justified, and in the long run it also serves the interests of most people.

⟦NL> On the one hand, raising livestock and poultry is the source of livelihood for many farming households, and livestock and poultry pollution is unavoidable; on the other hand, strengthening the prevention and control of livestock and poultry pollution and protecting the rural ecological environment is a common task facing everyone. Is it impossible to have both pollution prevention and control and industrial development? Not at all. At high-standard large-scale farms in foreign countries and in some places in China, the implementation of various pollution prevention and control measures, such as producing biogas, making biomass fertilizer, and raising pigs with “music,” shows that the dual goals of pollution prevention and control and industrial development can be achieved at the same time.

In reality, however, when livestock and poultry pollution prevention and control, industrial development, respect for individual livelihood needs, and overall ecological well-being are intertwined, it is very difficult for localities to balance them all. The prevention and control of livestock and poultry pollution and industrial development form a process of continuous balancing and coordination; in handling this process, neither side can be neglected. The actual conditions of each locality must be taken into account, guiding a virtuous interaction between the two and moving toward the goal of win-win development, with less reliance on administrative intervention.

The pace of pollution prevention and control and industrial development must be coordinated in an overall way. Special remediation campaigns that do not proceed from actual conditions do not conform to the laws of industrial development; they may not only spoil things by excessive enthusiasm and affect the sustainable competitiveness of farm operators, but also cause additional disruption to the already roller-coaster-like pig cycle, affecting pork supply and market prices. On the other hand, carrying out pollution prevention and control must not infringe on individual livelihood needs. In economic terms, livestock and poultry farming has positive externalities as well as negative externalities. The positive externalities are reflected in ensuring meat supply (especially urban meat supply); the negative externalities are reflected in the ecological pollution caused by rural discharge. It is clearly unrealistic to want only the positive externalities (eating pork) without the negative externalities (discharging feces and urine). In the process of carrying out special remediation for pollution prevention and control and industrial upgrading, the relevant departments must fully consider the actual situation. The cost of pollution prevention and control brought about by livestock and poultry farming cannot be borne entirely by farmers; support for subsidies for pollution prevention and control and industrial upgrading must be strengthened, and various measures must be adopted to advance step by step, promoting matters steadily at a reasonable pace. This must both conform to market laws and respect farmers' livelihood needs, while at the same time achieving industrial upgrading and rural ecological protection.

In fact, in many rural areas, because household backyard raising has relatively poor economic returns and affects the living environment, and because rural meat wholesale and retail markets have gradually been established, more and more farming households have taken the initiative to change the habit of raising livestock and poultry in household pens. On the whole, strengthening special remediation of rural livestock and poultry pollution prevention and control serves the interests of most people, including rural residents. It is only that in the process of carrying out special remediation campaigns, farmers' livelihood needs, market laws, and actual conditions must be fully respected. For large-scale farming operations, the upgrading of environmental protection measures must be strengthened. For household backyard raising that does not meet environmental protection requirements, farmers should be guided to do a good job in pollution prevention and control through various means such as explanation, publicity, analysis of pros and cons, and strengthening the recycling of livestock and poultry manure. At the same time, in the process of building a beautiful countryside, dedicated ecological farms can be built, which can both satisfy the traditional farming sentiments of some elderly people and serve as a concrete expression of preserving nostalgia and developing folk tourism. In short, carrying out livestock and poultry pollution prevention and control and developing the livestock and poultry industry in rural areas requires overall coordination and advancing together. Neither should pollution prevention and control affect industrial development, nor should the development of farming damage the beautiful countryside. With multiple measures taken together and guidance as the main approach, a win-win situation of industrial development, ecological protection, increased farmer income, and a beautiful countryside can be achieved.