Promotion of Ecological Farming Helps Transform Development Methods
On one side is the relatively severe non-point source pollution and the declining carrying capacity of the rural environment; on the other side is the ever-growing demand for developing agricultural production and raising farmers' incomes. As the economy and society have developed to today's stage, the contradiction between production development and environmental protection has reached a point where it must be faced head-on.
So, when agricultural development enters the realm of understanding sustainable development, can we find a way to balance both with environmental protection? Or, can these two seemingly contradictory sides possibly promote each other and coexist in mutual prosperity? If so, where is the breakthrough point? During the Two Sessions, the reporter interviewed Wei Chao'an, a deputy to the National People's Congress and deputy secretary of the Party Committee of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, with these questions about development.
Reporter: Whether from the perspective of protecting the rural environment or from the perspective of sustainable agricultural development, transforming the agricultural development method is a task that must be completed. The Premier's government work report also emphasized this point. In your view, to transform the agricultural development method, from which aspects should we seek breakthroughs?
Wei Chao'an: The three important paths for the development of modern agriculture with Chinese characteristics are adjusting the structure, transforming the method, and deepening reform. The focus of structural adjustment is on crop farming, while the livestock sector is mainly a matter of development method. To transform the development method, we must first seek a breakthrough in the livestock sector. Compared with crop farming, solving the problems of the livestock sector is more urgent. The livestock sector has now reached a hurdle. If the farming method is not transformed, it cannot continue to develop and may even gradually shrink.
On the other hand, a developed animal husbandry sector is an important symbol of agricultural modernization in a region and even a country. The animal husbandry sector taking the lead in achieving transformation of its development method is both the direction and trend of modern agricultural development and an objective requirement of the current state of animal husbandry development. So no matter from which perspective, transforming the agricultural development method must start with the livestock sector.
Taking ecological farming as the starting point and developing an agricultural circular economy is the breakthrough point for transforming the agricultural development method. This is true not only for Guangxi but for the whole country.
Reporter: Could you take Guangxi as an example and explain in detail why ecological farming is the breakthrough point for transforming the agricultural development method? Where lie its necessity, urgency, and feasibility?
Wei Chao'an: Rural pollution now mainly comes from two aspects: one is household waste and sewage, which is a matter of farmers' lifestyle; the other is non-point source pollution, which is a matter of the agricultural development method and production method.
The rapid development of Guangxi's animal husbandry sector plays a pivotal role in the overall development of agriculture. In 2014, the region's pig inventory was 58.78 million head, ranking eighth nationwide; poultry inventory was 1.089 billion birds, ranking fourth nationwide; beef cattle inventory was 5.99 million head, and mutton sheep inventory was 4.07 million head. Farming waste has become an important source of agricultural pollution. On the other hand, livestock and poultry are the most important consumers of organic matter in agricultural ecosystems, and even more important drivers of the direction of ecosystem development. As one of the country's major animal husbandry provinces, Guangxi has a relatively large base in animal husbandry, can consume large amounts of organic matter, and produces hundreds of millions of tons of excrement each year, equivalent to millions of tons of total phosphorus and total nitrogen. If this manure is transferred to the land, it can better serve crop farming and form a large agricultural ecosystem combining farming and animal husbandry, comprehensive utilization, circular development, and high yield and quality, and its role in increasing farmers' incomes is also pivotal.
Ecological farming within animal husbandry applies the principles of ecological niche, food chain, material cycling and regeneration, and material symbiosis of ecosystems, adopts a systems engineering approach, focuses on developing animal husbandry, and rationally matches agriculture, forestry, grass, livestock, sideline production, and fisheries according to local conditions to achieve the best ecological, economic, and social benefits as a new type of farming method. Compared with traditional farming methods, ecological farming has three obvious characteristics: first, the products produced are ecological; second, the production process is ecological; third, the production environment is also ecological. Vigorously developing ecological farming and accelerating the transformation and upgrading of animal husbandry is an important way to transform the agricultural development method. It is of great significance for improving the utilization rate of agricultural resources, building an agricultural development model with efficient output, safe products, resource conservation, and environmental friendliness, promoting agricultural efficiency, increasing farmers' incomes, safeguarding rural ecology, and advancing agricultural modernization.
Previously, in Longjing Village, Guibei District, Guigang City, we had a small-scale pig farm with more than 10 sows and an annual output of 200 market hogs. It was originally farmed in the traditional mode, with a strong odor, and because it was close to a residential area, it was often complained about, and some people even secretly threw stones at the farm; the sewage concentration was high, and when discharged into the nearby fish pond, even fish could not be raised. Later, that small-scale pig farm built elevated beds, the odor was greatly reduced, the nearby residents no longer complained, and the fish pond that had been used as a sewage pool was also used to grow lotus roots. In the season when lotus flowers bloomed, it attracted many people to come and view them. Raising fish and selling lotus roots in the fish pond also added additional income.
Reporter: Over these years, what experiences have been explored that other regions can learn from?
Wei Chao'an: Ecological farming, combining farming and animal husbandry, comprehensive utilization, and circular development are of great significance for transforming the agricultural production method. In practice, developing ecological farming and a circular economy combining farming and animal husbandry requires reform and innovation.
In recent years, Guangxi has taken ecological farming as the breakthrough point for transforming the agricultural production method, as an important part of ecological civilization construction, and as an important starting point for the "Beautiful Guangxi" rural construction activity being carried out across the region. It has vigorously promoted ecological farming technologies such as biogas treatment of livestock and poultry waste to process organic fertilizer, elevated bed farming, and microbial fermentation, strictly controlled farming pollution, and explored ecological circular models combining planting and breeding, effectively promoting the development of modern agriculture.
At present, more than 90% of the manure produced by livestock and poultry farming in the region is used in crop farming, and 60% of the urine produced by pigs, cattle, and others is utilized through biogas treatment. The main measures are: First, carry out a special "clean farming" action focusing on comprehensive manure pollution treatment and harmless treatment of dead livestock and poultry. In practice, localities have successfully explored various clean farming models such as large-scale biogas projects meeting discharge standards, centralized treatment of manure from free-range farmers, fermentation bed farming, use of livestock and poultry manure to produce organic fertilizer, and ecological circular farming combining planting and breeding. Second, according to the development idea of combining farming and animal husbandry, breakthroughs have been made in research and practice on "one sugarcane, two uses (for sugar and for feed)." We use the resource advantage of 16 million mu of sugarcane for sugar production to organically combine the development of the cattle and sheep industry with the sugarcane industry, forming a new agricultural structure that balances sugar and feed and combines farming and animal husbandry, develop a circular economy model combining planting and breeding, and improve resource utilization efficiency. When sugar prices rise, sugarcane is mainly used for sugar pressing; when sugar prices fall, part of the sugarcane can be used as cattle feed. At the same time, promote the feed utilization of sugarcane tail leaves, molasses, and sugarcane pith, produce biogas energy and organic fertilizer through livestock and poultry manure, promote the increase of sugarcane planting yield, and realize a virtuous cycle of "one sugarcane, two uses." Third, vigorously develop under-forest farming. 63.5% of Guangxi's land is forestry land. In conjunction with advancing collective forest tenure reform, we vigorously develop under-forest economy, especially under-forest farming. After several years of practical exploration, summary, and innovation, the livestock and poultry farming industry has gradually realized the transformation from farming in front of and behind houses to mountain farming, from traditional farming to modern ecological farming, and from a single farming method to diversified farming methods, forming under-forest farming models with unique Guangxi characteristics such as orchard farming and woodland farming. Fourth, deeply carry out the creation of standardized livestock and poultry farming demonstrations. Complete the creation targets of 10 national-level and 30 autonomous-region-level standardized demonstration farms. Fifth, increase pollution treatment in key farming areas.
In practice, we increasingly realize that to realize the transformation of the agricultural production method, we must take ecological farming as the breakthrough point and comprehensively develop ecological circular agriculture. Specifically, we must closely combine rural construction with transforming the agricultural production method and take ecological farming as an important starting point to promote the modernization of the farming industry. Through ecological farming, realize the ecological safety of the production process, the ecological safety of the environment, and the ecological safety of products; through combining farming and animal husbandry and comprehensive utilization, realize circular development; and through developing ecological farming, resolve the four challenges facing animal husbandry: insufficient consumer momentum for livestock products, increasing environmental pressure, inverted domestic and international livestock product prices, and major animal diseases and livestock product quality and safety.
Guangxi is rich in light and heat resources and has prominent advantages in forage crop cultivation and microbial utilization, with good conditions for developing ecological farming. In recent years, with the help of the "Beautiful Guangxi" rural construction activity, "clean farming" and "ecological farming" have successively risen in rural Guangxi and begun to show results. However, Guangxi is a minority ethnic region and a late-developing, underdeveloped region, with insufficient financial resources and limited technical strength for developing ecological farming and circular agriculture. We hope the State Council and relevant ministries and commissions will give Guangxi strong support in policies and funds for promoting ecological farming, developing circular agriculture, and accelerating the transformation of the agricultural development method.