Circular agriculture, approachable ecological concept, people's profit.

Original title: circular agriculture: the more approachable, the more beneficial to the people.

Circular agriculture

In China's rural areas, every household has more or less the practice of circular agriculture.

"the ecological value of circular agriculture should be included in the policy content, and attention should be paid to a large number of small-scale farmers who are implementing ecological circular agriculture." Recently, the organizers suggested at the "Seminar on the implementation effect of small-scale Farmers' Circular Agriculture" co-sponsored by the School of Humanities and Development of China Agricultural University and International Action Assistance (China).

At present, what is the policy of ecological circular agriculture in China? How should it be developed and how should it be developed? What are the difficulties? A reporter from China Science Daily interviewed this.

Tradition and present

Circular agriculture is not a new thing, but it is a matter of recent years to promote the development of circular agriculture into a national strategy.

"in rural China, every household has more or less the practice of circular agriculture." Mo Xiugen, director of policy and program for International Action Assistance (China), said. For example, farmers pile up animal manure in the fields to cover crops; in the Pearl River Delta, a good ecosystem is formed between "fish-mulberry-rice".

After China's rapid economic development, agriculture and rural areas have made great achievements, but also paid a serious price: excessive development and consumption of resources, massive emissions of pollutants, shortage of agricultural resources, environmental pollution and ecological destruction. "the constraints of agricultural resources and environment are becoming increasingly tense, but the development of ecological agriculture has also ushered in new opportunities." Sun Yufang, director of the Resource Protection Department of the Agricultural Ecology and Resources Protection Station of the Ministry of Agriculture, said.

The 18th CPC National Congress put forward the strategic decision of "synchronization of the four modernizations", "ecological civilization" and "beautiful China", and agricultural development has entered a new normal.

Circular agriculture rises in rural areas, but it is not only in rural areas, and its sustainable development needs the guidance and support of national policies. It is under this background that the state and governments at all levels have issued a series of policies to promote the development of circular agriculture. " Said Wang Zhen, a doctoral student at the School of Humanities and Development at China Agricultural University.

The construction of ecological civilization and the development of sustainable agriculture related to circular agriculture have been reflected in the No. 1 document of the Central Committee. Relevant state departments have also issued documents such as the National Agricultural Sustainable Development Plan (2015-2030), the Agricultural Outstanding Environmental problems Governance Plan (2015-2018), and the opinions on accelerating the Mode of Agricultural Development.

In 2007, the Ministry of Agriculture identified 10 cities (autonomous prefectures) to carry out the construction of circular agriculture demonstration cities. In 2014, 11 modern eco-agricultural bases covering different types of leading industries were launched. In 2015, the regional eco-circular agriculture project for comprehensive agricultural development in 12 provinces was established. The provinces and ministries of Zhejiang Province will jointly build, and the whole province will promote the construction of ecological circular agriculture.

"at present, the policy of circular agriculture has been promoted throughout the country, and it has been implemented to varying degrees at both the national and local levels." Wang Zhen said, "the policy itself shows the characteristics of decentralization, increasing comprehensiveness, giving priority to pilot projects and expanding coverage." At the same time, there are also some problems, such as insufficient policy support, single form and weak sustainability, and some difficulties in technology promotion. "

Promote measures in accordance with local conditions

The Xintiandi rice planting professional cooperative, where Yuan Yong, director of the Agricultural Service Center of Dongxi Town, Jianyang City, Sichuan Province, takes the path of circular agriculture, which he calls a new type of "comprehensive" cooperative. The establishment and development of the cooperative is also supported by the School of Humanities and Development of China Agricultural University.

Over the past five years, ecological technologies such as green prevention and control technology, production of environmental protection enzymes, comprehensive utilization of biogas slurry, no-tillage, composting, and earthworm breeding have been continuously popularized; the ecological planting scale of recycled rice, ecological corn and ecological rape has been continuously expanded, and the yield of ecological corn is 915 jin per mu, 100 jin higher than the average yield; the ecological environment has gradually improved, and birds that can only be seen in the nature reserve have been found in Shuanghe Village.

"there is no clear statement about who is the main body of circular agriculture. Farmers, small farmers and cooperative organizations may all be practitioners who are gradual and make agricultural development more sustainable, although they adopt different technical measures. " Sun Yufang said.

Sun Yufang found that some provinces and cities take the leading enterprises as the leading force of circular agriculture, while others take farmers as the main force. "the development of ecological circular agriculture must be based on local conditions, actively explore different models, give full play to comparative advantages, and highlight the key points of construction. We cannot simply develop a model and adopt an one-size-fits-all approach." Sun Yufang said.

Song Yiqing, a researcher at the Agricultural Policy Research Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, agrees. "the diversity of circular agriculture is very important, according to local conditions and based on the needs of farmers," she said. Farmers know what they need, and we should recognize them and give them support. "

Qi Gubo, a professor from the School of Humanities and Development of China Agricultural University, conducted an on-the-spot investigation in five villages in Ningxia, Henan, Jiangxi, Sichuan and Guangxi to analyze the economic efficiency of different circular agriculture models. and try to find out the significant factors that affect the economic efficiency of different circular agriculture models.

The survey results show that, on the whole, the comprehensive efficiency and technical efficiency of circular agriculture of small-scale farmers in the investigated villages are effective. However, the operational effectiveness of circular agriculture is quite different among farmers, that is, small-scale farmers are not homogeneous; effective technical efficiency does not necessarily produce effective input-output rate; there is a lot of room to improve the effectiveness.

The results also show that the significant factors affecting the comprehensive efficiency of circular agriculture in these areas are whether they have received technical training on sustainable agricultural models, whether to adopt crop rotation, and the subjective evaluation of local soil pollution. The household characteristics, such as agricultural labor force and non-agricultural income, have no significant impact on economic efficiency, and whether the circular agriculture model is subsidized or not is not significant. In addition, most of the farmers who implement circular agriculture in several villages are members of cooperatives, and the forms of cooperation and the implementation of circular agriculture are cause and effect and promote each other.

Farmers' cooperatives play an irreplaceable role in promoting the implementation of circular agriculture, and participants also reached a consensus.

Let the farmers make a profit

In the 1980s, China put forward the concept of "ecological agriculture". As for its definition, there are some differences at home and abroad. Foreign eco-agriculture pursues a single environmental goal and ecological benefits, and emphasizes the self-maintenance of agro-ecosystem.

"We pursue comprehensive benefit goals, including output. High yield and high efficiency is the basic element of ecological circular agriculture. If the output drops, how far can eco-circular agriculture go? Instead of completely abandoning chemical fertilizers and pesticides, we emphasize scientific use and rational investment. " Sun Yufang said.

AftabAlamKhan, International Advocacy and Policy Manager for International Action Assistance, believes that moving from industrial agriculture to sustainable agriculture will not be as effective as turning off the lights. "it will take three to five years or more. During this period, farmers should get some support to broaden the channels of income growth. Allowing farmers to make profits in the market and getting rid of poverty will make circular agriculture have more staying power.

Since 2000, Shanggulatun, Guzhai Village, Mashan County, Guangxi has become one of the supporting communities of the participatory Action Research Project of the Agricultural Policy Research Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. In the past 15 years, ecological recycling agriculture and PPB (participatory plant breeding) in Mashan Guzhai have made good progress, with some economic and ecological benefits.