Sustainable Agricultural Development in China: Opportunities and Challenges

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Sustainable Agricultural Development in China
Opportunities and Challenges

• ZENG Lin
• Advisor Prof. WANG Jingguo
• China Agricultural University

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Outline
Content of sustainable agriculture in China
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Challenges in Chinas sustainable agriculture
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The acting plan
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What we can do
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Content of sustainable agriculture in China
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Conventional agriculture in China
Win tremendous success
Main original places of world agriculture
Support the largest population
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Content of sustainable agriculture in China
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A developing country with 22 of the global
population but less than 7 of the global
cultivated land
The conventional agriculture has to be converted
to a sustainable agriculture

Many obstacles in the new century, such as water
shortage, reduction of arable land, irrational
use of fertilizers and pesticides, land
degradation, etc.
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Content of sustainable agriculture in China
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Ecological and environmental sustainability
within agricultural systems
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Essential goals of Chinas sustainable
agriculture
Employment

Natural resource conservation and environmental
protection
The main components can be generalized as
sustainability of the agricultural production,
the rural economy, the agroecosystems and the
rural society.
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• The prime aim secure enough food for present
  and future generations.
• The target at least 95 percent grain
  self-sufficiency under normal conditions.

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• Chinas population has now reached more than 1.3
  billion, and it is expected to reach 1.43 billion
  in 2010,1.54billion in 2020, and stabilize at a
  level of 1.6 billion by 2030
• It was predicted on an average a person may share
  over 400 kilograms food subsistence in China in
  2030

The most effective ways Sustaining the
agricultural production base and improving
agricultural productivity National policy
priorities Strengthening the agricultural
production capacity and developing a modern
agricultural sector while sticking to the policy
of food self-reliance
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Very limited land resources

• Decreasing at an alarming speed

Figure 1 shows the trend in the cultivated land
area in China between 1996 and 2006
Sources Ministry of Land and Resources
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In contrast, grain production steadily increased
during the 1980s and 1990s
Figure 2 Grain Production, 19782006
From 1999 to 2003, grain production declined
because of decrease in cultivated land area.
Since 2004, grain production has recovered ,which
can be attributed to the agricultural direct
subsidy policy
Sources Ministry of Land and Resources
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• Total agricultural productivity cannot be 100
  self-efficient in the near future. China need to
  import food to fill the annual gap.
• However, the food self-sufficiency ratio will be
  approximately 95, which means that the situation
  of Chinas food security will be acceptable.
• After 2030, the food self-sufficiency ratio will
  be increase due to the stabilization of the
  population and improvement of the agricultural
  technologies.

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Challenges in Chinas sustainable agriculture
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Fig3.Shortage of water resources
per capita of water resources(m3)
national average 2180
moderate water shortage threshold in
temperate zones 2000
Warning level of water shortage
National less than 1700
northern china 990
2002
midst of the 21st century
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• Modify pipe systems to reduce unnecessary loss in
  transportation. More investments in agricultural
  infrastructures are needed.

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Challenges in Chinas sustainable agriculture
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• Technology and equipment for water saving need
  to be advanced.

current flood irrigation
Sprinkler irrigation technology
Drip irrigation
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Chinas average fertilizer consumption on
cultivated land is now twofold of the maximum
amount of fertilizer consumption in developed
countries
Fig4 Fertilizer used in China(Mt),2005
SourceCSSB 2006
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Over-consumption and low efficiency cause
large amount of unabsorbed fertilizers and
pesticide remaining in soil leading to a series
of environmental problems.

• Field pollution could last for many years
• Cause water pollution
• Result in decrease in fertility

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The acting plan of Chinas sustainable agriculture

• In 1994, the state council worked out China
  Agenda 21 after Agenda 21 was adopted at UNCED in
  June 1992
• Chinese ministry of agriculture drew up China
  Agenda 21-The plan for the action of Agriculture
  in 1998.
• In 1997, 25experimental zones were redefined to
  pilot sustainable development. They have now
  gained a marked success.

China has, and will take more actions to promote
China, and make great contribution to the world.
---- Premier ZHU Rongji, at the World Summit on
sustainable Development, 2002
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Table 1Key laws and actions on ecological
conservation
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Table 1Key laws and actions on ecological
conservation
A system of laws and regulations on
environment that suit to conditions of China has
preliminarily been formed.
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What we can do
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• My summer social practice

In the summer vacation of 2007, I,
together with six partners, went to Lujiang
County, Anhui Province in China to do a survey on
the utilization of chemical fertilizer and
publicize agricultural techniques to the farmers
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Survey in the market
Publicize techniques
Study in the field
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What we can do
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• We made suggestions about the local sustainable
  agricultural development.

Emphasize environmental consciousness of the
people
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Few farmers are now aware of the
negative effects of the excessive fertilizer on
the environment. So the improvement of
environmental consciousness is very
important.
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Develop best fertilization management practices
suitable for farmers in China
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• Fertilizer planning has to be carried out by the
  agricultural advisors , fertilizer producers
  and traders instead of by farmers in
  fields, then farmers could be supplied with
  regionally specified fertilizer compounds or
  mixed fertilizers.
• Strengthen research and development on new
  fertilizers and safe pesticides, for example, the
  biological pesticides.

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As agricultural students, there are
especially wide ranging missions for us .We have
the responsibility to play a positive and
effective role in the development of sustainable
agriculture. It is necessary for us not only to
work hard to gain more knowledge of modern
agricultural technologies, but also to put
them into practice.
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Thank You !