More efforts still needed to tackle livestock and poultry farming pollution

Recently, the "Opinions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council on Accelerating the Advancement of Ecological Civilization Construction" proposed strengthening the prevention and control of agricultural non-point source pollution and increasing efforts to prevent and control pollution from crop and livestock farming, especially large-scale livestock and poultry farming. It can be seen that the problem of livestock and poultry farming pollution has become an important factor in agricultural non-point source pollution and also an important cause affecting the agricultural ecological environment.

In fact, it is not only large-scale livestock and poultry farms; many farms in our country have this problem, namely a lack of sufficient awareness of manure pollution. Some farms are built on hillsides or near water bodies with higher terrain, good ventilation, and relatively convenient discharge of manure and waste, and this siting and design have a serious impact on hillsides and water bodies; some farms understand improving technical capacity mostly as raising the production capacity of livestock and poultry, while often using traditional and natural methods for simple treatment of excrement; some farms, even if they have some treatment facilities and equipment, abandon them because of increased production costs, leaving them as mere decorations; some farms lack the capacity for recycling and lack processing conditions, technology, and marketing methods, so manure that could have been recycled instead becomes a source of pollution.

At the same time, our country's punishment of livestock and poultry farming pollution is still not strong enough. For example, although some farms have withdrawn from prohibited zones, the pollution and residues produced during their original production process have not been completely removed, and because the responsibility of the governing entities is not implemented, the punishment effect is not obvious.

In summary, the author believes that more efforts are still needed to tackle livestock and poultry farming pollution.

First, awareness of livestock and poultry farming pollution should be raised, livestock and poultry farming should be viewed from the perspective of the new normal of economic development, the serious consequences of manure and waste pollution should be fully recognized, and the capacity to treat livestock and poultry farming pollution should be accelerated.

Second, infrastructure construction on farms should be strengthened, relevant emission standards should be strictly formulated, and standard construction should be implemented in farm construction and technological transformation, raising the threshold for pollution prevention and control from the planning and design levels, improving pollutant treatment capacity and effectiveness, and promoting the recycling of emissions from large-scale livestock and poultry farming.

Third, technical guidance for the comprehensive utilization of livestock and poultry farming waste should be strengthened. Measures such as manure drying and harmless treatment can be adopted to process waste generated during farming into organic fertilizer, biogas, and other materials for production and daily life for recycling. Exploration and trial of a targeted subsidy mechanism should be carried out, subsidizing farms (households) that implement waste recycling, reducing the cost of recycling, and increasing their enthusiasm for waste recycling.

Fourth, supervision of pollutant emissions from farms should be increased, strict pollutant supervision standards and industry access mechanisms should be formulated and implemented, and farms that cannot meet pollutant treatment standards must be urged to meet them, governed according to law, or forced to withdraw.