Opportunities and challenges of sustainable agricultural development in China

Abstract

This paper introduces the concepts and aims of sustainable agriculture in China. Sustainable agricultural development comprises sustainability of agricultural production, sustainability of the rural economy, ecological and environmental sustainability within agricultural systems and sustainability of rural society. China's prime aim is to ensure current and future food security. Based on projections of China's population, its economy, societal factors and agricultural resources and inputs between 2000 and 2050, total grain supply and demand has been predicted and the state of food security analysed. Total and per capita demand for grain will increase continuously. Total demand will reach 648 Mt in 2020 and 700 Mt in 2050, while total grain yield of cultivated land will reach 470 Mt in 2010, 585 Mt in 2030 and 656 Mt in 2050. The per capita grain production will be around 360 kg in the period 2000-2030 and reach 470 kg in 2050. When productivities of cultivated land and other agricultural resources are all taken into consideration, China's food self-sufficiency ratio will increase from 94.4% in 2000 to 101.3% in 2030, suggesting that China will meet its future demand for food and need for food security. Despite this positive assessment, the country's sustainable agricultural development has encountered many obstacles. These include: agricultural water-use shortage; cultivated land loss; inappropriate usage of fertilizers and pesticides, and environmental degradation.

Impacts of soil and water pollution on food safety and health risks in China

“…Temporal trend of grain yield (10 7 t), usage of pesticide (10 5 t) and fertilizer (10 6 t) in past two decades There is a clear increase in the usage of pesticides in those provinces with high grain production, indicating that pesticides still contribute greatly to yield growth ( Figure S8), although some other factors also affect grain yield, including arable land, advancement of agricultural sciences and technology, construction of farm infrastructures, fertilizer use, planting structures for crops, water use, grain price and policy (Zhao et al, 2008;Ericksen et al, 2009). Due to different climate conditions, soil features, grain types and policy changes, inter-annual variation of pesticide applications has showed different increasing trends.…”

Agricultural sustainability: concepts, principles and evidence

“…What has become clear in recent years is that the success of modern agriculture has masked some significant negative externalities, with environmental and health problems documented and recently costed for Ecuador, China, Germany, the Philippines, the UK and the USA (Pingali & Roger 1995;Crissman et al 1998;Waibel et al 1999;Pretty et al 2000Pretty et al , 2003aPretty 2005b;Cuyno et al 2001;Norse et al 2001;Buttel 2003;Tegtmeier & Duffy 2004;Sherwood et al 2005;Zhao et al 2008). These environmental costs begin to change conclusions about which agricultural systems are the most efficient and suggest that alternatives that reduce externalities should be sought.…”

“…Although almost every country would now say it supports the idea of agricultural sustainability, the evidence points towards only patchy reforms. Only three countries have given explicit national support for sustainable agriculture: Cuba has a national policy for alternative agriculture; Switzerland has three tiers of support to encourage environmental services from agriculture and rural development; and Bhutan has a national environmental policy coordinated across all sectors (Funes et al 2002;Pretty 2002;Herzog et al 2005;Zhao et al 2008).…”

Impacts of Organic Farming System on the Soil Microbial Population in Upland Soil

“…농업은 다양한 토양 미생물에 의한 생태계 순환으로 환 경과 가장 조화된 산업이다 (Pollock et al, 2008;Pretty, 2008;Zhao et al, 2008). 토양 미생물 다양성은 토양 유 기물의 분해와 관련이 있다 (Waldrop et al, 2000).…”