The loss of by-products from the processing of agricultural products is amazing and the benefit of comprehensive utilization is expected.

Recently, the Agricultural products processing Bureau of the Ministry of Agriculture has carried out a special investigation on the comprehensive utilization of agricultural products production and processing by-products. The investigation shows that the number of by-products in the production and processing of agricultural products is increasing year by year, because it only stays in the primary and secondary development, and does not drain it out, which directly affects the conservation of resources, environmental protection, quality and safety, and the increase of farmers' income. it is suggested that we should attach great importance to the comprehensive utilization of the processing of agricultural products, increase policy support, strengthen tackling key problems in science and technology, turn waste into benefits, and realize the full utilization of agricultural resources. This edition specially publishes a special topic on the comprehensive utilization of by-products from the production and processing of agricultural products, which can be used for reference by employees.

-- Editor

The low comprehensive utilization rate has a huge negative impact.

It not only wastes resources, but also pollutes the environment, reduces income and increases security risks.

The by-products of ● agricultural products are non-main products produced in the production or processing of agricultural products, including straw, rice bran, rice husk, wheat bran, cake meal, fruit dregs, vegetable bang, livestock and poultry bone blood, potato dregs, distiller's grains, vinegar dregs and so on. In 2013, China's crop straw was about 800 million tons, accounting for 50% of the total agricultural biomass output; 580 million tons of by-products from the processing of grain, oil, fruits and vegetables, livestock and poultry, and aquatic products, of which 60% (far less than 10% in developed countries) were discarded as waste or simply piled up to form several "mountains" of by-products of agricultural products such as straw, rice husk, distiller's grains, fruit dregs, vegetable bang, bone blood and so on. The input and output of 700 million mu of land and 600 billion yuan of income were lost.

The comprehensive utilization rate of grain processing is very low. At present, the by-products of grain processing are more than 180 million tons, including 20.42 million tons of rice bran, 40.85 million tons of rice husks, 21.78 million tons of wheat bran, 40 million tons of corncobs, 41.12 million tons of corn husks and 18 million tons of lees (15 million tons of distillers' grains and 3 million tons of vinegar grains). Among them, the production of rice bran, rice husk and rice germ increased by 1.6% annually, the output of wheat bran and wheat germ increased by 3.1% compared with the same period last year, and the output of corncob and corn husk increased by 6.7% annually. Rice husk is less than 5%, broken rice is 16%, rice bran is less than 10%, broken rice is the highest and rice husk is the lowest.

The comprehensive utilization rate of oil processing is low. At present, the by-products of oil processing are 90 million tons, with an average annual growth rate of 39%, including more than 10 million tons of shell, more than 80 million tons of cake, meal, oil foot and soap foot, and the comprehensive utilization rate is more than 20%.

The comprehensive utilization rate of fruit and vegetable processing is the lowest. At present, the by-products of fruit and vegetable processing are more than 2.4 billion tons, an increase of 4.4 percent over the same period last year, including 212.65 million tons of leaves, seedlings, stems, roots, skins and dregs, and 30.21 million tons of skins, dregs, seeds, shells and kernels (15.84 million tons of citrus, 11.55 million tons of apples and 2.64 million tons of grapes). The comprehensive utilization rate is less than 5%.

The comprehensive utilization rate of livestock and poultry aquatic products is slightly higher. The by-products of livestock and poultry slaughtering and processing are mainly bone, blood, viscera, feathers, fur, etc., with a total output of 56.2 million tons, an increase of 5.4% over the same period last year. The by-products of aquatic products processing mainly include head, skin, tail, bone, shell, etc., with a total of 15.69 million tons, an increase of 5.4% over the same period last year. The comprehensive utilization rate is 29.9% for livestock, 59.4% for poultry and more than 50% for aquatic products.

The low comprehensive utilization rate of ● agricultural products processing by-products has a great impact on resources and environment and the increase of farmers' income.

A waste of resources. The comprehensive utilization rate of agricultural products processing in China is only 40%, while that in developed countries is 90%. Among them, the comprehensive utilization rate of rice bran in Japan is 100%, and even in underdeveloped India it is 30%. The rich carbohydrates, proteins, fats and other effective substances in the by-products are raw materials such as food, medicine, health products, energy, chemical products and so on. The low comprehensive utilization rate directly leads to the low added value of the products, and a large number of resources are not fully utilized and wasted.

Pollute the environment. Nearly 1.4 billion tons of by-products are produced in the production and processing of agricultural products in China every year. As the pollution accidents and incidents of these by-products are increasing year by year, they are more and more worthy of attention in recent years. For example, straw burning increases the air pollution index and affects traffic and air transport; sewage around some processing enterprises is cross-flow and smelly, which seriously affects the ecological environment and landscape, the daily life and health of residents, and directly leads to non-point source pollution and water eutrophication. Some of the inedible by-products of livestock and poultry (bones, lungs, glands, pancreas, etc.) and potato dregs produced by potato starch are discharged or discarded. Discharge into urban sewers, rivers, lakes, oceans, abandoned mines, quarries or caves, etc., pollute the water body, lead to the death of aquatic life, but also produce stench, affecting the lives of residents. The vegetables in the main vegetable producing areas, large vegetable markets and processing plants accumulate like mountains, rot and deteriorate, seriously pollute the soil, groundwater and the environment, and spend a lot of money to control environmental pollution.

Reduced income. If 50% of China's 800 million tons of straw is used as energy, it is equivalent to building another Daqing oil field; 30% of the straw and more than 5.1 billion tons of grain, oil, fruits and vegetables by-products are used as feed, which is equivalent to 580 million mu of new land according to the production of 1 ton of dry alfalfa per mu. According to the production of 40 million tons of crude oil and 3.3 billion cubic meters of natural gas in Daqing in 2012 (4005 yuan per ton of crude oil and 2.05 yuan per cubic meter of natural gas) and the output and price of alfalfa in that year (1000 yuan per ton of dry alfalfa), the output value is 746.965 billion yuan. Most of these can be turned into economic benefits and farmers' income.

Increased food safety risks. China uses 7% of the world's arable land to feed 22% of the population, and food security has become an important strategy related to national security. The national food security strategy requires that the self-sufficiency rate of major grain varieties in China must be more than 90% in order to maintain national food security. In order to meet this requirement, we must further rely on science and technology and continuously improve the land output rate, resource utilization rate, labor productivity and scientific and technological contribution rate of grain production. However, the effective utilization rate of by-products in our country is low, which fails to provide people with more food energy and food nutrition, which affects the effective food supply and national food security.