Grassland construction and the grass industry cannot be developed behind closed doors

As people's quality of life improves and the food they eat becomes far more varied, grain consumption has declined somewhat, while people eat more meat, eggs and dairy, and more non-staple foods. Where do meat, eggs and dairy come from? Producing meat, eggs and dairy is inseparable from feed and from forage grass. If feed and forage grass are not sufficient, modern people's food security will run into problems. Having enough grain but not enough meat and milk is also not acceptable.

Strictly speaking, food security should not only emphasize the security of staple rations and grain, but should also bring livestock products within the scope of food security. Extending this logic, the feed and forage of domestic livestock must also be included in the security assurance plan, and only then can the country's food be considered truly secure.

At present, a large part of the grain China consumes each year is used as animal feed, which causes considerable waste. If grasslands were protected in the same way as arable land and forage grass production were increased, the beef, mutton, milk and other foods produced would play a greater role in food security.

At present, while protecting the red line of 1.8 billion mu of arable land, we must also take the path of "returning farmland to grassland." Some areas are suited to "returning farmland to forest," while others are better suited to "returning farmland to grassland." By restoring pastures and developing the grass industry, the results are better and the returns come faster.

Grass-field rotation is an important feature of modern mixed agriculture. In China, tested land-use systems such as grass-grain rotation, grass-fruit rotation and grass-tobacco rotation can all create large areas of cultivated grassland and form a virtuous cycle. Vigorously developing the grass industry in this way not only increases the total output of grain crops and cash crops, but also allows grassland animal husbandry to flourish. Therefore, by using low- and medium-yield fields, seasonally abandoned land, and techniques such as grass-field rotation and intercropping, "returning farmland to grassland" and developing grassland agriculture have very broad prospects in some parts of China.

In areas suited to grass, where grass should be grown, there has long been an overemphasis on taking grain as the key link and a neglect of developing the grass industry. This is a mindset formed over a long period, and it is hard to change the current situation immediately; stronger guidance is needed. In these areas, if grass-field rotation is practiced, it will not only fail to affect grain output, but can also multiply forage and other feed crops and build soil fertility. From many angles, developing grassland agriculture provides a stronger guarantee for food security.

Of course, in places suited to grass, where grass should be grown, and suited to grazing, where grazing should be practiced, the biggest problem in carrying out grassland construction and developing the grass industry is "building grasslands and developing the grass industry behind closed doors." The development of grasslands should be linked with the whole of agriculture and with food security and considered in a coordinated way.

(Ren Jizhou, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering)