Grassland agriculture is a new choice for agricultural structure adjustment

China uses 7% of the world's arable land to feed 22% of the world's population, creating an agricultural miracle. However, the traditional agricultural structure and farming system have become more and more difficult to adapt to the new normal of agricultural development. According to statistics, the per capita area of cultivated land in China has dropped to 1.3 mu. It is estimated that by 2030, China's population will reach 1.6 billion, and the per capita arable land area will be reduced by another 25%.

In order to meet the needs of future agricultural development, we must change the traditional agricultural structure, adjust the mode of production and improve production efficiency. Grassland agriculture is an effective way to promote China's traditional cultivated land agriculture.

Grassland agriculture is to transform the existing cultivated land structure of main grain type, which is mainly based on grain production, into a grain and grass structure with equal emphasis on grain and green nutrient production.

According to statistics, from 1990 to 2012, the per capita consumption of food rations in China decreased by 16%, while the consumption of meat, eggs and milk increased by 226%. According to this development, by 2030, the consumption demand of feed grain in China will reach more than twice that of rations. The food problem in the future is not the shortage of food rations, but the problem of feed food security.

Grassland agriculture can just solve the disadvantages of traditional agricultural structure and meet the future development trend. Develop grain and forage agriculture, make use of the characteristics of rhizobium nitrogen fixation of legumes to improve agricultural land, make use of the production potential of all kinds of forage and forage crops, increase the production of green nutrients, and vigorously develop herbivorous livestock in rural areas. gradually change the traditional agricultural structure and mode of production, and further improve the efficiency and efficiency of agricultural production.

There are more than 6400 species of forage and forage plants in China. They have different characteristics and ecological adaptability, and can meet all kinds of natural resources with different climate, soil and water conditions for the production of green nutrients. Even land that is not conducive to the production of food and cash crops can be used to grow suitable forage and forage plants. Grass field rotation is implemented in the loess plateau of Gansu Province. with a rotation period of 3-4 years, soil organic matter can be increased by 23%, and nitrogen can be increased by 100-150 kg per hectare. Without increasing fertilizer, the grain yield can be increased by more than 10%.

The space for the development of grassland agriculture is extremely broad, and low-and middle-yield fields, fallow fields, forest and fruit gaps and grassy slopes are all superior choices for the development of grassland agriculture.

According to preliminary statistics, China has an area of 80 million hectares of low-and middle-yield fields, nearly 9.9 million hectares of farmland, and 1.48 million hectares of open land for all kinds of sparse forests, tea forests and orchards. If 10% of the above-mentioned land can be used for planting fine forage through the implementation of grassland agriculture, 100 million tons of hay can be increased without affecting the original productivity, and according to the average conversion of 10 kg of forage dry matter to 1 kg of beef and mutton, the production of beef and mutton can be increased by about 10 million tons. In addition, there are 100 million hectares of grassy hills and slopes in China. The output of these grassland agriculture is equivalent to an increase of 100 million mu of cultivated land.

Grassland agriculture will lead agriculture into a new era of stable food production and prosperous development of animal husbandry.