Promote the grass-field rotation model and vigorously develop grassland agriculture

Recently, the China-US Forage Technology and Products Exchange Seminar was held in Beijing. Experts at the meeting proposed that China has already begun promoting the grass-field rotation model in agricultural areas, indicating that developing a "grain-and-forage balanced" type of "grassland agriculture" suits China's food-structure agricultural system.

China is a country with vast grasslands, with nearly 400 million hectares of grassland accounting for about 2/5 of the national land area. In 2013, the national output of fresh natural grass reached 1.06 billion tons, and 280 million mu were planted with forage grass. However, relative to the animal husbandry sector, which accounts for a relatively large proportion of China's agricultural industrial structure, the forage industry remains a relatively weak link in the development of animal husbandry. Ren Jizhou, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, proposed at the meeting that although China's forage industry started relatively late, China has richer natural grassland resources and planting experience; by fully leveraging these advantages, the forage industry has broad prospects.

⟦NL> Professor Zhang Yingjun, an expert with the National Forage Industry Technology System, analyzed and proposed that the irrational structure of China's agricultural industry is one of the reasons the forage industry is weak. Although China proposed the "grain-economy-feed" ternary development structure as early as the 1980s, in more cases the "feed" component is often ignored; in the crop farming of developed countries, however, the forage industry accounts for 1/3, with a rational "grain-economy-feed" ternary structure. In addition, in the animal husbandry of developed countries, the proportion of ruminant livestock such as cattle and sheep is as high as over 80%, while in China it is only around 25%. It can be seen that such an industrial structure is unsustainable. He stated that if the forage industry is coupled into the agricultural industrial structure, it can not only promote the improvement of farmland quality, but also provide an opportunity for the structural adjustment of animal husbandry and promote the development of the forage industry.

China has initially formed a national support system for the development of the forage industry, encouraging and supporting the development of the forage industry in terms of policy, funding, technology and other aspects. The introduction of a series of related policies, including the National Grain-Saving Animal Husbandry Development Plan (2011-2020) and the Dairy Alfalfa Project, has given the forage industry policy guarantees. Nationwide, a "one belt, two zones" industrial layout has initially taken shape, mainly consisting of the Northeast Leymus chinensis industry zone, the Northwest and North China alfalfa industry belt, and the Southern forage industry zone. As of the end of 2013, the national retained grass-planting area was 20.867 million hectares, and the national commercial grass production area reached 3.178 million hectares. Relevant experts proposed that developing the forage industry cannot focus only on technology and scale; any technology plays its greatest role within a system. At present, China has already begun promoting the grass-field rotation model in agricultural areas, indicating that developing a "grain-and-forage balanced" type of "grassland agriculture" suits China's agricultural system. In the future, China should vigorously develop grassland agriculture on the basis of making full use of the grasslands that account for 41% of the national land area.

Ren Jizhou also said that the development of the grass industry should start from the "grassland agricultural system," rather than merely the "cultivated-land agricultural system." With China's economic development, society has a great demand for grasslands and animal husbandry, and it is hoped that the grass industry can be organically combined with the beef and mutton industries and develop systematically, so that the entire grassland agricultural system can be improved, which is very crucial to the development of China's grasslands.