Why does the country change from growing grain to growing feed?

Since last year, the Ministry of Agriculture has piloted "changing grain to feed" in 30 counties across the country, focusing on whole-plant silage corn and promoting the matching of grass and livestock. This year, the pilot project will be further expanded to 100 counties. From growing grain to growing feed, why do you want to change it like this? Will this affect food security? What impact will it have on the adjustment of agricultural structure?

Turn a simple granary into a "granary + milk can + meat depot"

In recent years, new changes have taken place in China's grain situation. With the bumper harvest in successive years, the grain stock and imports have also increased, and the grain production structure, especially corn, is facing adjustment.

Since 2004, the sown area of grain in China has increased by 199 million mu, of which corn has increased by 195 million mu, and corn output has increased from 116 million tons to 225 million tons. Corn not only contributes to the increase of grain production, but also brings huge periodic inventory pressure.

On the one hand, there is excess supply and demand of corn, which is facing adjustment; on the other hand, there is a lack of high-quality feed in our country, which needs to be imported in large quantities every year.

According to statistics, more than 60% of China's corn consumption is used as feed every year, but the traditional feeding method is to separate the corn grain from the straw, while the whole plant silage corn is to make the corn grain and straw together into silage. Compared with the whole plant silage corn, the total amount of nutrients and production efficiency provided by the traditional feeding method are much lower.

From the perspective of the regional layout of the planting and breeding industry, at present, a large part of the main producing areas of herbivorous animal husbandry coincides with the main grain producing areas such as corn in China, and also coincides with the "sickle bend" area where corn planting is reduced in our country. The development of whole-plant silage corn in these areas can effectively reduce the gap between supply and demand of high-quality forage for herbivorous livestock such as cattle and sheep, and greatly reduce the production cost.

The Ministry of Agriculture has carried out a pilot project of "changing grain to feed", mainly guiding the planting of whole-plant silage corn, but also taking measures in accordance with local conditions, popularizing forage grass in areas suitable for growing high-quality forage, and turning simple granaries into "granaries + milk cans + meat depots." In 2015, the pilot program of "changing grain to feed" planted 1.5 million mu, actually implemented 2.86 million mu, and collected and stored 9.95 million tons of high-quality forage, nearly double the expected target.

"through the close combination of planting, breeding and addition, feed grain can be transformed on the spot, so as to change 'grain into meat' and 'grass into milk', so as to achieve value-added over the belly, which is an important measure for the agricultural sector to 'remove inventory, reduce costs, and make up for deficiencies'." Ma Youxiang, director of the Animal Husbandry Department of the Ministry of Agriculture, said.

On the issue of food security, experts said that the broad sense of food security must take into account animal husbandry feed. Due to the great adjustment of people's diet, residents have a higher consumption of meat, eggs and milk, which means a higher demand for feed. Therefore, adjusting the dual structure of grain and cash crops to the ternary structure of grain, economy and feed crops will not weaken the national food security capacity.

It is understood that this year, the pilot scope of "changing grain to feed" will be expanded to cover the entire "sickle bend" area and 17 provinces and regions in the main corn producing areas of Huang-Huai-Hai, with the target task increased to 6 million mu.

More than 300 yuan per mu of land to avoid straw burning

"in fact, a large part of the ordinary corn planted before has been put into feed processing plants after harvest, but compared with the whole plant silage corn, the effect is much worse and the efficiency is also low." Wang Jinzhou, a farmer in Li Jun Village, Li Jun Town, Yongning County, transferred 1033 mu of land. He told reporters that ordinary corn has to be threshed and dried before it can be sold after harvest, and a big grain grower like him must find a large drying ground, which will take two months.

"it is much easier for the whole plant to silage corn. At harvest, the people from the dairy farm come directly with a large harvester. After they have been collected and transported to make silage, 1000 mu of land will be completed in five days." Wang Jinzhou said.

Dairy farms also think it's a bargain. Chen Wei, president of Chunying Dairy Cooperatives in Litong District, Wuzhong City, Ningxia, who signed a contract with Wang Jinzhou, said: "eating more high-quality silage can improve the digestibility of dairy cows and increase milk production. Our cows used to produce about 25 kilograms of milk a day, but now they produce 33 kilograms of milk a day, and the per unit yield of our cows has increased by 30%. "

Luo Xiaoyu, director of the Animal Husbandry Bureau of Ningxia Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Department, listed in detail the advantages of "changing grain to feeding": compared with the original grain corn harvest, the whole plant silage corn has fewer work links and lower harvesting costs. The income of growers has generally increased by 200 to 300 yuan per mu; farmers have also benefited, milk production of dairy cows has increased, and the weight gain of beef cattle and mutton sheep is also obvious. "according to our incomplete statistics, the daily weight gain of beef cattle is more than 300 grams, and the daily weight gain of mutton sheep is 50 grams, and the meat quality has also been greatly improved."

In addition to economic benefits, the ecological benefits of whole plant silage corn are also obvious. The whole plant silage of corn not only does not need to consider the secondary storage of straw, but also avoids the environmental problems caused by straw burning.

According to the statistics of the Ministry of Agriculture on the pilot areas last year, the average yield of silage corn per mu was 3.50 tons per mu, the average purchase price per ton was 410 yuan, and the income per mu was 1435 yuan, which was 335 yuan higher than that of planting seed corn, and the utilization mode of corn was changed. it also reduces the pressure of corn collection and storage. The whole plant silage corn has been popularized in dairy farms, the average daily milk yield of dairy cows has increased by 3 kg, the average per unit yield of adult cows has reached 8 tons, the feed cost of producing 1 ton of milk has been saved by 300 yuan, and the quality indexes such as milk protein have also been significantly improved. when beef cattle are fed whole plant silage, the feed cost is saved by nearly 1000 yuan per head.

Respect the wishes of farmers and improve the ability of scientific and technological support and service

In the interview, a number of experts said that China faces a rare opportunity to promote the conversion of grain to feed. According to the National planting structure Adjustment Plan, the forage area will increase to 95 million mu by 2020, including 25 million mu of silage corn. However, there are still many problems to be solved in turning a simple granary into a "granary + milk can + meat bank".

"the harvest of whole-plant silage corn has high requirements for agricultural machinery and equipment. Because the grain is harvested together with the straw, it is often necessary to have the function of 'kneading' the grain. The price of such large agricultural machinery is generally around 1 million yuan, which is simply too much for ordinary farmers to bear. It must be solved through professional social service organizations." Luo Xiaoyu said.

In addition, silage also has certain requirements for technology. "whole-plant corn has to be fermented after harvest, and this technology also has a threshold. Improper operation will lead to fermentation failure and waste." Luo Xiaoyu suggested that in the promotion of "changing grain to feed", it is necessary to strengthen technical guidance, innovate service models, and enhance the ability to support science and technology.

At the level of subsidy funds, local appeals can further increase the intensity of subsidies and improve the methods of subsidies. At present, the state finance gives each pilot county an average annual subsidy of 10 million yuan, with an implementation cycle of three years. In terms of subsidy standards, the storage subsidy standards of Ningxia grain feeding pilot districts and counties are very different. "this is due to the different scale of breeding in different counties, so in some places a ton of forage subsidy of 22 yuan, some places subsidy of 50 yuan, will make people misunderstand the policy." Luo Xiaoyu said.

The most important thing in promoting "changing grain to feed" is the degree of acceptance of farmers. Grass-roots animal husbandry cadres said that "changing grain to feed" must respect the wishes of farmers, and the government can only guide them. It is difficult to implement in some places, on the one hand, because farmers are unwilling to adjust the land and recommend it due to the influence of planting concepts, on the other hand, there are subsidies and benefits for growing grain, and the benefits can not be reflected immediately.

Ma Youxiang believes that in order to mobilize the enthusiasm of farmers to develop "changing grain to feed", we must start with improving the efficiency of forage production and utilization, build bases and create models, further stabilize the income of "changing grain to feed", and let farmers get real benefits. At the same time, further cultivate and develop forage production service organizations, support a number of commercial forage planting, processing, sales, logistics and other large enterprises to promote industrial development.