Working Reports on the Task Force on Non-point
Pollution Prevention
--Task Force on Reduce Non-point Pollution from Crop Production
I Non-point Pollution in China
1 Status of Non-point Pollution of Agriculture
1.1 Non-point Pollution from Chemical Fertilizers
The China’s consumption of chemical fertilizers has been increasing year by year since the early 1960s to feed her huge population in (Figure 1). China is now the largest producer and consumer of chemical fertilizer in the world. Total fertilizer consumption reached about 44 million tonne in 2002, that is, over one-third of world consumption. The national average annual application rate is about 225 kgN/ha cropland1), which is the fourth highest in the world after the Netherlands, South Korea and Japan. In some Provinces the average is greater than 400 kgN-1ha-1, and in some counties over 1000 kgN-1ha-1.
Non-point pollution from agriculture is becoming the dominant source of water pollution in China, and an important source of air pollution. The total loss of nitrogen fertilizer from China’s agriculture reaches about 19 % (Fig. 2). The total nitrogen input of chemical nitrogen (N) was 24.71 million tonne in China in 2002 and the total loss to the environment was some 4.72 million tonne, of which 1.24 million tonne entered the surface water, 0.49 million tonne passed down to the groundwater, and losses to the atmosphere were largely 0.27 million tonne in the form of N2O and 2.72 million tonne as ammonia (NH3).
The annual chemical nitrogen loss through leaching and runoff from farmland in China is about 1.73 million tonne. The annual nitrogen input from agriculture to the Yangtse River and Yellow River is 92% and 88%, respectively, and about 50％ of this comes from chemical fertilizer. The annual soluble non-organic nitrogen（of which nitrate nitrogen NO3-N accounts more than 80%）exported from Yangtse, Yellow and Zhu Rivers is now some 0.975?106 tonne. Water bodies have been seriously polluted since the 1990’s. About two-thirds of the water bodies in the seven river systems and three lakes ( Taihu, Dianchi and Caohu) are in the worst quality class. The big lakes and all lakes within cities are in the middle quality class. Npp from crop production becomes a regional problem where the nitrate-N and phosphorous is carried by rivers to the sea. The problem is particularly serious estuaries and coastal waters near large cities were pollution levels are high and in recent years this has caused a major increase in the frequency of red tides.
The nitrate content of groundwater and sources of drinking water has risen as a consequence of the increased applications of nitrogen fertilizer rate. The groundwater in 50% of China’s cities suffers from this type of pollution, which is particularly serious in the north of China.
For example, 38 ％ of the drinking water wells in 16 counties in Jingsu Province, Zhejiang Province and Shanghai City are over the national standard for nitrate-N content (≤20mg/l). About 58 ％ of these wells are over the standard for nitrite-N content (≤0.02mg/l). In Beijing, Tianjing and Tangsun 50% of the sampling sites were over 50mglL in nitrate-N content - the highest reached 300mg/L. In North-West China between Suide and Yulin 22 % of the wells sampled (most of them for both drinking water and irrigation exceeded the Nitrate-N content over the standard). Thirty per cent of the 74 wells in the 24 counties in Guanzhong irrigation area and the drought plateau in the north of Wei River are over the standard. It is clear that nitrate pollution of groundwater and drinking water is a threat to people’s health throughout China.
Npp and particularly nitrate pollution of groundwater is commonly very serious in the intensive vegetable growing areas that are found in or close to the suburbs of most towns and cities in China. A survey carried out by the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science at 800 sites in 20 counties of 5 northern provinces concluded that groundwater at 45% of the sites contained over 50 mg NO3/l, 20% of the sites had over 89 mg NO3/l (the national nitrate content standard for drinking water), and some had over 500 mg/l.
Forecasts of the future nitrogen surplus from crop production (and hence of the Npp risk) made for the Task Force suggest that it will increase from about 140 kg/ha in 2001 to nearly 180 kg/ha in 2010 (the surplus is the difference between chemical fertilizer input, biological N fixation, crop stubble return and the crop uptake, without taking losses through gas, runoff and leaching into consideration. Using estimates of the average nitrogen surplus in 5 recent years, the Task Force concludes that the high risk area for fertilizer application is mainly in the coastal provinces in the southeast region and Hubei province in middle region. However, 13 provinces in the middle and southeast region in China, except Jiangxi and Shanxi province, will face high risks in 2010 if current policies and trends continue.
1.2 Pesticide pollution
China has been the world’s second largest producer (after the USA) of pesticides since 1990. Total production capacity of pesticide (a.i.) is about 750,000 tonnes with around 250 kinds of pesticides. Current production is about 460,000 tonnes. China has been the world’s largest user of pesticide application for more than 10 years，and 600 kinds of pesticide are registered for use. The average application rate of pesticide over the whole of China is about 13 kg/ha. In 2000, the organo-chlorine and organo-phosphorus pesticides accounted for over 39 % and 37 % respectively, of total pesticide use. Most of them were applied to vegetables, fruit trees and cereals (rice and wheat).
In China, the Pesticide Administration Rule was introduced in 1997, marking new era of administration of pesticide. China now has an integrated system of laws, regulations and standards for pesticide administration. Pesticide registration and production allowances are significant aspects of pesticide administration in China.
Assessment of the current status of Npp from pesticides is greatly constrained by the lack of recent national level data. There has been a national scale investigation of pesticide pollution since 1980. It showed, for example, that the residual amount of DDT in the surface layer of cultivated lands was 0.42 mg/kg and the area suffering from pollution of organo-chlorine pesticides was about 14 million ha, that is, over 10% of the total cultivated area.
Organo-chlorine pesticide residues should have declined since then following the introduction in 1983 of a law forbidding their use. However, small-scale surveys show that a number of banned pesticides are still in use and that Npp from pesticides is still serious in many regions. The Yangtse, Song-hua-jiang, and He-long-jiang Rivers, and the groundwater in Jiangsu, Jiangxi, and Hebei provinces still suffer from pesticide pollution. Excessive use of pesticides over many years has caused contamination of soil, surface water, groundwater and agricultural products with harmful effects on natural ecosystems and human health.
1.3 Status of eutrophication of Chinese lakes
China has made major advances in economic development，population growth and lake resource utilization over the past 25 years. However the prevention of lake pollution has lagged behind. Water environmental pollution, especially eutrophication, has become a serious problem. China has 4880 lakes, covering a total area of 83400km2 and accounting for 0.8% of the country. About 50% of all of the lakes that have been investigated are now eutrophic, and for 75% of these lakes the eutrophication is getting worse. According to preliminary statistics of environmental capacity of 35 major Chinese lakes, about 5.646×106 tonnes waste water enters lakes per day, accounting for 6.6% of all discharged over the whole country in the same period.
Following the introduction of tighter regulations on and investment in the control of point source pollution, Npp is becoming the main factor increasing the eutrophication of Chinese lakes. This growing problem has been analyzed by looking at the contribution of Npp to the eutrophication of the Taihu, Dianchi and Chaohu Lakes, which are amongst the most seriously eutrophic lakes in China.
The results indicated that the total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) inputs to Taihu Lake from the non-point sources accounted for 77 ％ and nearly 14 ％ of the whole lake loading of these nutrients during 1987-1988. In 1995, the non-point sources accounted for 55% of the total nitrogen loading and 28% of the total phosphorus loading without including the contribution from precipitation. Apart from the fertilization in the farmland, the pollution from livestock/poultry production and aquaculture was about equal to that from industrial sources. The investigation in 2001 by the project, Soil Quality Evolution and Sustainable Use, showed that the excrements from human and livestock amounts to 34% of the total pollution source, living waste water 14%, fertlization 24%, industry 22%, aquatics breeding 6%. The research in 1994 showed that showed that the TP and TN entering the Chaohu Lake was 3522.3 tonnes and 176.1 tonnes from the point source. respectively, and 15383.3 tonnes and 12218.3 tonnes from water draining from cropland which amounts to 68.2%％ and 89.2％ of the total external source of these nutrients and this was largely because of higher crop fertilization. In addition there was non-point inputs of these nutrients released from eroded soil deposited in the lakes. They amounted to about 10,000 tonnes and 6,000 tonnes of nitrogen and 900t and 620t of phosphorus for Taihu Lake and Chaohu Lake, respectively, that is, about a quarter of the total external input.
2 Reasons for the non-point pollution of agriculture in China
2.1 The high pressure for the food security in China
China is a great agricultural and developing country, having 1.3 billion population. 22% of world total population must be fed with 7% of the cultivated land of the world. The food production was extremely increased in the past 50 years. This went back at the large extent to the progress of science and technology and the reform of institution. Statistics show that the grain production per capita in China in 1961 is only about 60% of that in the world. But the productions of grain, meat and egg per capita are all beyond the average of the world in 1998, except milk. To a great extent, the increase in grain production is the result of increased use of chemical fertilizers. The analysis shows that there is a significant correlation between the annual fertilizer application and the grain production. However, the non-point pollution in agriculture aggravated at the same time. In order to satisfy the increasing demand of food in the future Well-Off-Society, China need to keep input in agriculture at a high level, especially for the chemical fertilizers, therefore the pressure to the environment will increase without the effective controlling measures. The same for the increase application of the pesticides.
The entering of WTO of China will increase the pressure of agriculture environment while help the Chinese agriculture take to the world. The research showed that the application amount of agriculture chemicals will increase if without the effective management system and the service and guarantee from the technology extension system. This is mainly caused by free trade, which will affect the price of agricultue input elements and agriculture productions, and consequently affect the crop plantation structure and the input of chemical fertilizers and pesticides at a unit of area. The relative lower price of agriculture chemicals at the international market will induce the farmer apply more fertilizers and pesticides. Moreover, the high append value of vegetables and fruits will promote further the over-fertilization, and finally increase the difficulty to control the Npp.
2.2 The fast development of vegetable production
Vegetable production has become one of the most profitable and fast growing agricultural sectors in China. It uses 80% less land than cereal crops yet it provides over half of the total profits of crop production in many provinces.
In 2002 the total area planted with vegetables in China was about 20 million ha, and it produced over 600 million tonne of vegetables. There are now over 160 counties in China with more than 20,000 ha of vegetables. However, this very successful expansion of vegetable production has caused very serious Npp. Excessive water and fertilizer inputs are very common. Since the mid 1990’s there have been more and more reports of serious pollution problems due to excessive water and nutrient inputs, especially in Liaoning, Shandong, Heilongjiang, Jiangsu, Shanxi, Hebei, Beijing, Hunan, Tianjin etc.
First environmental problem is the high input of irrigation water and fertilizer, especially nitrogen fertilizer. In all Chinese provinces except Inner Mongolia the average chemical fertilizer application rate commonly exceeds 200 kgN/ha, with the highest of 740 kg/ha in Shangdong province (Fig. 6). Surveys of the open vegetable fields in the Beijing area showed that the average N and P inputs through inorganic and organic sources were c.680 kg N/ha and c.440 kg P2O5/ha, respectively. Higher inputs of N were found in protected fields (greenhouses and polythene tunnels), i.e. 1380 kg N /ha input. Nitrogen use efficiency was never higher than 10% and resulted in poor economic performance as well as Npp. In Shouguang county, Shangdong province the total nutrient input for cucumber and tomato was 2060 kg/ha N, 2530 kg/ha P2O5, 1590 kg/ha K2O, respectively, with about half of the NPK input coming from organic manure. The total nutrient input rate was about 2-6 times actual crop demand. It is estimated that in 1997 the amount of chemical fertilizer wasted by overuse in Shandong Province alone was about 118,000 tonnes N, 152,000 t P2O5, and 65,000 tonnes K2O. These excess inputs lead to the eutrophication discussed in section I above.
There are three main problems arising from intensive vegetable production.
The problem is particularly severe with greenhouse vegetable production. It was found that the average accumulative nitrate content in soil profile of 0-4 m deep in greenhouses in Beijing was 1230 kg N/ha, and leached nitrate into groundwater could be over 200 kg N/ha each year. More than 90% of the shallow wells (<15m) surveyed in a greenhouse areas had nitrate levels above the maximum permissible concentration recommended by the WHO for drinking water. Moreover, high inputs of N fertilizer promote the gaseous loss of N. Experiments on vegetable land in Shouguang county Shangdong province showed that the loss of nitrous oxide (N2O) during the spring season rose from c. 4.4 kg N/ha without chemical fertilizer N inputs to 8.2 kg N /ha with a 870 kg N/ha chemical fertilizer N input.
The second environmental problem is the high incidence of pests and diseases in vegetable production. Excessive N inputs are the often the main reason for this high incidence, and in turn, this commonly leads to farms using too much pesticide, which can result high pesticide residues on vegetables and in the environment. Dangerously high nitrate and pesticide residues are a constraint to the development of higher priced organic foods.
The third environmental problem is the damage that excessive inputs of chemical fertilizers and irrigation water can cause to soil structure and soil quality. They cause both biological and physico-chemical damage to soils, and can lead to acidification, secondary salinization and reduction of microbial activity. This damage lowers crop yields and may lead to farmers applying even more fertilizers to try to compensate for the reduced soil productivity, and thereby intensify Npp and the cycle of environmental degradation.
2.3 Unbalanced nutrient input in agrosystem in China
The important role of fertilizer in China’s agricultural production led to a meteoric climb in fertilizer consumption after the economic reforms of 1978. The average total fertilizer consumption during 1978-1980 was 11 million tonnes. It increased to 22 million tonnes in the late 1980s and to 40 million tonnes by the late 1990s (China Statistics Yearbook, 2002). Total fertilizer consumption in China doubled twice during the first 20 years of economic reform. Consequently, in 1986 China overtook the United States as the world leader in fertilizer consumption. China’s farmers used 41 million tonnes of fertilizer in 2002, which is more than 25 percent of total fertilizer use in the world, even though the total amount of arable land in China is less than 10% of the world’s total.
The ratio of organic fertilizer to chemical fertilizer has decreased greatly. Prior to 1970 most of the nutrient inputs to farmland came from organic fertilizer. But the use farmhouse and domestic manure has decreased rapidly with economic development, the increase in off-farm employment and the rising cost of labour. These changes occurred first with nitrogen fertilizer, then in the 1980s with phosphate fertilizer, though most of the potassium still comes mainly from organic manure (Fig. 8).
The nutrient ratio of mixed chemical fertilizers is not in balance with crop and soil requirements. Although the ratio of N: P2O5: K2O increased from 1:0.45:0.13 in 1991 to 1:0.52:0.20 in 2001, the proportion of potassium fertilizer should increase further. In 1999 only 1% of the counties had the correct nutrient ratio. Nitrogen ratios are too high in most of regions in China since the 1970s, especially in eastern areas. Phosphorus ratios have changed from a deficit to small surplus (with a large surplus in some vegetable areas), but potassium is generally still in deficit. The amount of nitrogen increased rapidly before 1998, but is now nearly stable. It is forecasted to increase slowly and reach 22.4 million tonne in 2010.
Based on calculations of the nitrogen surpluses in five recent years, the highest risk to environment from excess chemical N input is in the developed provinces (or metropolises) of southeast China, i.e. Shanghai, Jiangsu, Guangdong, Fujian, Beijing, Shandong and Henan. The risk is lower in the west and north provinces of China, i.e. Heilongjiang, Inner Mongolia, Sinkiang, Qinghai and Quangxi (Fig. 9).
2.4 Rapid development of intensive livestock breeding with the fewer treatment of organic wastes
Livestock production has developed very rapidly in China (Table 1). Chicken, pig, dairy and beef production increased 5.6, 2.3, and 13.6 times, respectively during the period 1985-2002. Waste production from livestock was 690, 1420, 2700, and 4100 million tonnes in 1980, 1990, 2000 and 2002 respectively, and is predicted to reach to 6000 million tonnes in 2015. The total amount of wastes from livestock production in 2002 was over four times greater than production of organic pollutants from industry.
The production and use of organic fertilizer in China has received little attention in recent years. Huge amounts of manure, especially human wastes have become a source of pollutants rather than a resource to be recycled for fertilizer production. The utilization ratio by agriculture of manure nutrients depend on its collection ratio and the loss ratio during storage and transportation. In recent years, most of the human waste in towns and cities has been discharged directly into surface water bodies without any treatment, and rarely utilized for fertilizer. In rural areas the collection and reuse as fertilizer is better than in urban areas but lower than in the past. The greatest problem is with large scale livestock enterprises (especially pigs and cows) using concentrate feeds that also directly discharge into water bodies. However, problems can also arise where there is no limit to or guidance on the application of manure to farmland, since overuse or badly timed use can cause malfunction of the soil ecology, and change soil from a pollutant filter to a pollutant release source.
The lack of legal requirements for environmental impact assessments prior to the establishment or expansion of intensive livestock enterprises or nationwide standards for waste discharges have led to the present situation where 90% of animal farms in China are equipped with no or inadequate waste disposal or treatment facilities. Moreover, with the lack of integration between livestock and crop production there is no waste management system to promote recycling, especially in peri-urban areas where the largest livestock enterprises tend to develop. Consequently, the animal wastes are directly discharged into the environment as waste instead of being used as a resource to be processed into organic fertilizers. The treatment ratios of the wastes of beef cattle, pigs, chickens and dairy cows are 44％, 43％, 10％ and 3％, respectively (Table 2).
In 1998 the total nitrogen and phosphorus content of various organic manures in China were over 16 and 7 million tonnes respectively. But the losses to environment were estimated to be 10.89 million tonne of nitrogen and 2 million tonnes of phosphorus. Most of these losses were in the form of wastes directly discharged into surface water bodies, apart from a substantial proportion of the nitrogen which was lost as gaseous ammonia. These losses were higher than those from chemical fertilizer (1.24 million tonne for nitrogen) and hence were the main source of pollution. This conclusion has been confirmed by isotope studies of rivers and lakes in the Tai lake region of Jingsu province. The N and P discharge rate of livestock waste are projected to increase by 2015 in all provinces except Heilongjiang and Inner Mongolia (Figs. 10-13).
2.4 Unsound agricultural extension system
The existing agricultural extension system has the following common features and problems:
1) Under-investment. Compared with many other countries China’s extension investment intensity in 1999 (ratio of agricultural extension as a percentage of total agricultural GDP) was only 0.49. This was only slightly higher than the average investment intensity of low-income countries in mid 1980s. It was much lower than the industrial nations (0.62 in 1980) and the USA (0.74 in 1990). More than 90% of the extension investment came from local rather than central government, which will constrain extension services in poor areas where extension services were needed most.
2) Mis-allocation of investment funds. Studies show that most of the funds allocated to extension services are used to pay staff salaries (80%). Moreover, very little of extension project money reaches local extension stations, because a large part of it tends to be retained by local government for other uses.
3) Over-staffing. Compared with other countries, such as USA (20,000), India (50,000), China had more than one million people working in extension system in 2001. Between 1996 and 1999, although agricultural extension investment increased rapidly (57%), the increase in number of people was even faster (65%). Thus, much of increased funds were used to pay salaries and benefits.
4) Poor quality of extension staff. Most extension staff in China have had little or no formal training and education. In 2001 a survey shows that only 10% of extension staff had university level education, and more than 46% had no special training at all. This is a big contrast with the situation in other countries. Furthermore, even though some staff had benefited from higher education, their special training often did not meet local extension needs or had not been updated to reflect current understanding of agricultural problems or technological opportunities.
5) Large amounts of time that have to be spent on duties not related to extension. Reforms in the 1980s required local extension agencies to (a) allocate staff to other duties unrelated to extension, and (b) to engage in commercial activities in order to generate sufficient income to match the salary gap due to the reduction in extension investment. However, because the main commercial activities of these extension people were the selling of pesticides and chemical fertilizers, this led to a conflict of interests. On the one hand they should be encouraging farmers not to overuse fertilizers and pesticides and protect the environment, whilst on the other hand they wish to increase their revenue from the sale of inputs. Moreover, the decentralization of extension staff management led to many extension staff coming under the township governments’ administration (they were administrated directly by county bureaus before). Thus, a large proportion of their salaries is paid by township government, and this makes it easy for local government to assign non-extension tasks to the extension people.
2.5 Over-fertilization behavior of farmer under open market policy
In the 1960s China’s government recognized the important role of chemical fertilizers in achieving food security and paid great attention to encouraging the use of fertilizer and ensuring its supply. Fertilizer consumption increased rapidly after the economic reforms of 1978. In 1975 China’s farmers applied 70 kilograms per hectare, a level that was about equal to the average fertilizer use intensity of the world. By 2000, however, farmers were applying 280 kilograms per hectare, a level about 3 times the world’s average. In terms of fertilizer use intensity, China is ranked fourth in the world after the Netherlands, South Korea and Japan (FAO, 2002).
The rapid growth of fertilizer consumption led to efforts by China’s government to promote a rapid increase in the production of fertilizer. Pricing policies and direct involvement through state-owned enterprises increased fertilizer production during the 1980s and 1990s. From only 12 million tonnes (measured in nutrient weight) in 1980, China’s production of fertilizer increased three fold to 36 million tonnes in 2002, and in 1996 overtook the United States to become the world leader in fertilizer production
Although production grew rapidly, consumption rose even faster, and in the 1980s and 1990s, China also became the world’s largest importer of chemical fertilizer. During the 1980s and 1990s China imported an average of 8-9 million tonnes of fertilizer per year, and in the 1990s imports supplied about 25% of annual use. Thus, by the end of the 1990s, China’s fertilizer policy and factor endowments made China the world’s largest user, producer and importer of chemical fertilizer.
Assessments by the Task Force and other analysts show that Chinese farmers are overusing fertilizers. This is true for most areas, time periods, crops and method of estimation. In the case of farms studied in Jiangsu the ratio of the value of the ">
The results from household level datasets are consistent with thosets from analyses conducted using the China National Cost of Production Survey Dataset (Table 4). The latter provide strong evidence that maize producers are overusing fertilizer by 50 to 75 percent; wheat producers by 33 to 81 percent; and rice producers by 36 to 73 percent. In short, for reasons that need deeper investigation Chinese farmers use fertilizer far in excess of the point of optimal profitability.
The degree of overuse varies regionally in a fairly systematic manner. For example, rice producers in the Yangtze Valley overuse fertilizer by the highest degree. In the 1980s they overused fertilizer by 50 to 65 percent. During the 1990s, the degree of overuse rose ">
The Task Force has not had the time or resources to undertake a full examination of the reasons for overuse. One explanation is that collectives have traditionally pressured farmers more to increase production (for example, to meet food self sufficiency targets) and producers have responded by increasing fertilizer use. It could also be that since farmers in the Yangtze River Valley are more involved in off-farm activities than those in the Southwest, they respond to the rising opportunity cost of labour by applying more fertilizer in a single application. Although such rates of application may not be optimal in a strict sense of the definition, and farmers know that part of the fertilizer will not be used effectively (it may evaporate or be flushed away by the application of surface irrigation), such levels of fertilizer may be rational in that they allow the farmer to focus on his/her off farm opportunities and ignore farm work. While this may explain the rate of overuse in the Yangste Valley compared with the Southwest, it does not explain the relatively higher rates of overuse when compared to the South. The opportunity cost of farmers in the South must be nearly on par with those in the Yangtze River Valley. There are differences, however, in the institutions in the South and Yangtze River Valley; the higher level of rental transactions in the South may help reduce the levels of inefficiencies (since the busiest farmers are more able to rent their land out and do not need to apply excess levels of fertilizer.
The rates of overuse of fertilizer for wheat producers also vary by region. In North China, the heart of China’s wheat basket, farmers overuse fertilizer more than those in the rest of China (Table 6). Since the regions in North China have communities that are relatively richer, more industrialized and more connected to labour markets than most of the regions in the “Rest of China,” it could be that North China farmers are overusing fertilizers relatively more than others because their opportunity costs are higher. While these explanations are all plausible, they must remain hypotheses until further studies can be undertaken.
The overall conclusion of the technical and socio-economic investigations undertaken by the Task Force is that from both bio-physical and economic standpoints Chinese farmers are overusing fertilizer and pesticides by 10－30 ％ for cereals in eastern provinces and up to 50 per cent in the case of intensive vegetables. Such overuse has increased over time and will continue to increase given current trends and policies. The overuse results in low rates of fertilizer use efficiency and high rates of Npp. One of the key factors influencing the overuse is the lack of sound extension advice on fertilizer requirements and methods of application. Better and more frequent extension support by official services or farmer associations, together with improved rural education and training for farmers should lead to more rational and environmentally sustainable fertilizer and pesticide use and greatly reduced Npp.
3 International experience with Npp control
The European and Japanese situations are much closer to the Chinese one as regards the level of agricultural intensification and fertilizer application rates than is the case for the USA or Australia . The Task Force has therefore examined the status of Npp in these situations and the measures that have been taken to reduce Npp.
3.1 Experience with laws and regulations to promote the sound use of agro-chemicals
The European Commission is the dominant body in the EU for regulating and promoting environmentally sound and sustainable use of fertilizer and other agricultural chemicals. It acts through environmental and food safety legislation, and through instruments of the Common Agricultural Policy under both the market and rural development pillars.
The Rural Development Policy of the EU provides for agri-environmental programmes through which farmers are compensated for the costs they incur and the income they forgo when they supply environmental services to society that go beyond what they would do as part of Good Farming Practice (e.g. for reduction of fertiliser, the application of specific farming systems such as organic farming etc.). This is one of the most important instruments to address the issue of Npp from agriculture. Under other measures of the Rural Development Policy, farmers may receive financial compensations to meet newly introduced legal standards and support for the construction of manure storage capacities to control both point source pollution and Npp. The new revisions to the Common Agricultural Policy introduce the requirement for cross compliance. This obliges farmers to comply with environmental legislation on fertiliser use (Nitrates Directive) if they want to receive their full financial support under the market development pillar of the Common Agricultural Policy.
Under environmental legislation, the Nitrates Directive addresses farm management of fertilization, in particular manure management, at farm level.
Member States have to designate Nitrate Vulnerable Zones where groundwater nitrate levels are above or close to permitted levels. Specific Action Programmes apply to these zones and may require the designation of periods when it is prohibited to spread manure, storage capacities for liquid manure, limits on the application of fertilizer to slopes, the introduction of buffer strips, restrictions on fertilizer rates, etc.). Not more than 170 kg/ha of nitrogen from manure may be spread in those Nitrate Vulnerable Zones, meaning that farmers need sufficient farm land to correctly dispose of their manure. The amount of livestock corresponding to 170 kg/ha nitrogen varies between Member States and regions, depending on the breeds. Member countries may adopt even tighter controls. The Netherlands, for example, set limits for the input of organic manure to the farmland at 55 kg P /ha for grain crops, 76 kg P/ha for grass during 1995 –1999, and reduced them to 31-33 kg P/ha and 48 kg P /ha after 2000, respectively.
The European Commission is starting to address the problem of ammonia emissions from livestock enterprises through a new Directive on National Emission Ceilings for atmospheric pollutants.
The European Union has established a dual assessment system to control pesticide pollution. Active substances are evaluated at Community level and put on a positive list. Member States evaluate and authorise products containing these substances, and the product labels must state for which crops and condititions they should be used for. Farmers must comply with the provisions on the label. Maximum residue limits in commodities are set separately to protect human health while ensuring effective use at the lowest possible dosage. There is a new initiative called the “thematic strategy” which aims to improve the sustainability of pesticide use. Impementation of the strategy may involve (a) the introduction of a comparative assessment of active ingredients / pesticides in the authorization procedure to make the best products available, (b) introduce compulsory training for farmers, and (c) measures to improve pesticide applications (e.g. by introducing certification and technical checks on spraying equipement).
3.2 Mandatory versus Voluntary Measures
Most developed countries have found that it is difficult to monitor compliance effectively. Hence Npp control is centered on either voluntary measures or a mixture of the two linked with some economic benefits for action (e.g. payment for undertaking environmental services) or economic penalties (e.g. for illegal discharges to water).
Almost all countries have developed codes of good practice or guidelines for more sustainable farming practices, but these need to be actively promoted by extension services and encouraged by compliance measures or pollution taxes.
3.3 Use of Economic Instruments
EU countries were among the first to adopt pollution taxes for chemical fertilizers and pesticides, but they are not widely used. Two aspects of their experience are relevant to the Chinese situation. First, that the tax rates have to be very high (50-100%) before EU farmers make significant reductions in agro-chemical use. Second, that although in theory they are simple to apply, in practice it has not been easy to find a workable process. Austria used them for four years and then decided to drop them. Denmark has shifted away from a general approach, and now farmers do not have to pay the pollution tax on fertilizer if they formulate a nutrient management plan.
Ⅱ Policy Recommendations
The Task Force has analysed the technologies and policies that have helped to reduce Npp in other countries, especially members of the European Union (EU). Particular attention has been given to their experience with economic instruments (notably pollution taxes on fertilizers and pesticides), and their approaches to giving sound advice to farmers on Npp control. The Task Force has assessed the international experience against the specific features of Chinese agriculture in order to formulate a number of policy recommendations to control Npp.
Although the following recommendations are listed separately, they should be formulated and implemented as mutually supporting actions. Moreover, they should be consistent with the overall objectives of:
·Income growth and poverty reduction in rural areas;
·Integrated rural environment management planning;
·Introducing the concept of Environment Impact Assessment into the agricultural planning system;
·Applying the concept of the circular economy to agriculture.
1. Policy
1.1 Ensure the national food security with right level of grain self-sufficiency
Given the recent development of grain production, import and export trend, China has been a net grain exporter in recent years. Therefore, at national level, food security is not a major concern. However, there exist wide differences at household level. Thus, measures should taken to tackle micro-level or household level food security. At the same time, the experiences in the past showed that much of the achievement of grain security was on the cost of natural and environmental damage.
To main the balance between the food security and environment qulity, we suggest to keep the targeting level of grain self-sufficiency at 90-95%. According to a recent projection on grain production, import and export: by 2020, China will import about 50 million tonnes of grain. Such a level will only account for 2.6% of world grain production (the world production of grain in 2004 is estimated at 1.9 billion ton by FAO) and less than 21.7% of world trade (the world trade of grain in 2004 is estimated at 229.7 million ton by FAO).
The government should take several major shifts in its emphasize on food security: a.) Shifting from national food security to household food security for both rural and household; b) shifting from grain security to food security; c. ) Government should not pay direct subsidy to households on production but focus more on productivity enhancing measures, such as increase investment in agricultural R&D and rural infrastructure.
1.2 Overall arrange the construction of grain producing bases
To adjust construction planning of grain producing bases and agriculture enterprise structure on macro scale. In high yield grain producing base, to reduce fertilizer overuse and promote the economical benefits of crop planting on the premise of crop high yield and steady yield to decrease environment pollution. The key area of national crop production increase should be shifted from high-yield area where NPP status is serious (for example, Taihu lake area) to middle-yield area where NPP is much less pronounced (such as Huang-huai-hai plain). Compared with low-yield area, middle-yield area is suitable to serve as key areas for national grain production increase because of less restricted factors, higher potential of increasing production and lower transform costs. The soil fertility and productivity of middleyield areas can be improved prominently by irrigation and fertilization technology, and thus the pressure of crop production in highyield area can be lightened.
1.3 Promote the farmer technical organization
Japan sets up the honorary title of Eco-farmer during the sustainable agriculture development, and encourages farmers to protect environment. Britain farmers need to register once every 1-2 year, while building organic pasture.
Internationally, farmers’ technical associations are useful institutions that can organize small and individual farmers into marketing, technical training and other similar activities in effective way. At the same time, these associations can provide credit services to small farmers. Given the small-scale nature of rural household in China, such institutions are urgently needed. Although government has been trying to promote such organizations, at current, only about two percent of rural households have joined such organizations. On the other hand, their activities are very much restricted due to luck of legal identity or due to complicated administration system. In order to ensure healthy development of farmers technical associations, policy measures should be taken include the following:
1) Changing government role and build up partnership with farmers. Government is needed to provide support in the areas such as providing financial assistance, training, information exchange and etc. and act as one of the catalysts;
2) Formulate laws and regulations that can recognize legal rights of farmers technical associations;
3) Create an environment for catalysts to play roles in setting up of these farmers technical associations;
4) Allow these organizations to have access to financial activities or to have rights to form credit union in order to help small farmers to get access to credit services.
In developed area of eastern China, launch land management of large scope appropriately, develop specialized household of agricultural planting, expand land business scale of specialized household, at the same time, accept agricultural specialized household as corporations. Promote rational fertilization and new application of fertilizer, reduce fertilization costs, increase planting income.
1.4 Raise the environmental awareness in whole society
Firstly, The officials at all levels who are in charge of agriculture and environment should study the meaning and scientific method of the agricultural ecological environment constructions, study relevant national laws and regulations, at the same time, through newspaper , broadcast , cable TV ,etc. ,to strengthen the propagation of agricultural ecological environment constructions, strengthen participation and ecological consciousness of the whole people. Make corresponding policy system for agricultural ecological environment construction in respect of tax revenue , credit , market etc., encourage investment of internal and international enterprises, arouse investment enthusiasm and participation of rural collective, peasant and foreign businessman.
2 Environmental legislation
2.1 Control the discharge of organic waste
China needs to realize that future structural changes in agricultural sector are the shifts from land intensive activities (eg, grain) to labour intensive activities (livestock or horticulture). Thus, intensified livestock production is likely to be the future trend. Livestock waste management will become a key to environment protection, especially to non-point source pollution control.
Establish harmonious development view between environment protection and high-quality and high-yield agriculture, make great efforts in developing non-pollution agriculture, develop " green food " properly in order to promote the application of organic fertilizer, implement the standards for green food production establish by the Ministry of Agriculture; Control and improve the production process of " organic food ", reduce pesticide pollution from organic fertilizer (such as livestock’s manure).
Therefore the government should set a legal environmental requirements on livestock production, which includes the carry capacity level, waste disposal capacity, buffer zone construction, to increase innoxious treatment and utilization of livestock's excrements, limit manure discharging randomly.
2.2 Promote the recycling use of organic manure
Make the rural environmental development plan, develop straw comprehensive utilization combining methane project, and reduce environmental impact from straw burning and organic fertilizer collection.
To promote recycling use of organic manure at regional or local farm scale. Set up policies and regulations about commercial organic fertilizer production and use. Encourage development of techniques and methods of organic fertilizer production, make production procedure and quality standards of commercialized organic fertilizer, reduce nutrient loss during warehousing and transportation, make great efforts to improve agricultural utilization proportion of organic fertilizer. Make regulations about application amount and time of organic fertilizer (including the ratio between organic manure and inorganic fertilizer) according to climate , soil , crop condition to reduce surface source pollution.
Establish policies to protect water sources, strengthen basic research , make technical criteria for water sources protection applied to different districts, stipulate crop types allowed to plant , and the quantity , time , kind and method of fertilization.
2.3 Control the pesticides pollution
Set up national technology criterions for clean production, adopt standardization and quality control means in course of crop production, lead and help farmers to use fertilizer and pesticides scientifically and safely, sustain predominant production trademarks, perfect examining and measuring system, expand the control span of quality security supervision of agricultural product, promote high-quality rate and security rate of agricultural products, improve comprehensively the level of quality and safety of predominant crop products.
Perfect national laws and regulations of pesticides manage and technical criteria，strengthen the function of environmental protection department in pesticide security, perfect monitoring plan of pesticides pollution, control effectively the whole process of pesticides producing , applying , storing and transportation ,etc..
Strengthen the source control of pesticides pollution source, manage the registration and application of pesticides rigorously, take measures to eliminate hyper toxic pesticides and permanent pesticides, develop new pesticides which are friendly to environment (high-efficient, low toxicity , and low remain pesticides); Improve technology level of pesticides enterprise and improve pesticide quality.
In pesticide use, insist on that precautions is first and carry on integrated control, set up prediction system of plant diseases and insect pests, popularize integrated control technology and biological control technology, popularize biological pesticide, reduce the consumption of agriculture chemical. Meanwhile, strengthen basic research on agriculture chemical instrument and operation, establish national standard of agriculture chemical use; Adopt new agriculture chemical instrument and improve agriculture chemical use techniques.
Reestablish rural professional technology service of pesticides, strengthen operation training and supervision to use pesticides safely, enhance consciousness of pesticide use safely, regulate pesticide use.
3 Technology systems
3.1 Monitor the farmland quality and environmental capacity
European Commission keeps farmland quality from 2 respects: agriculture and environment. In 1993, European Commission starts national-level monitoring, one time every 4 years; In 1995, European Commission implement identify project for nitrate high-risky area , and started to make national discharge criterion to reduce ammonia emission. The member states of European Commission, North American have already set up a series of environmental standards for nitrate and residues of pesticides, including: farmland soil (soil organic content, bio-diversity ) , food , underground water quality (nitrates 50 mg/l and pesticides 0.1 mg/l) standard.
On the basis of existing and relevant standard (including national soil quality analysis criterion, soil environmental quality criterion and agricultural product security criterion (GB, GB/T ) ) , to set up standard series of national farmland environmental capacity aimed at nitrate and pesticide residues. Carry on nationwide farmland environmental security survey, discern, plan and manage high-risky area of non-point pollution.
For monitoring, combing Ministry of Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences and State Environmental Protection Administrator, establish national-level monitoring network for farmland ecological environment. Implement rapid examine and supervisory system to various green and organic agricultural production base at the same time.
3.2 Construct the high-efficient agiculture extension system
Recommendations here are related to fertilizer and pesticides application only.
1) Reform extension system and reduce un-necessary personnel and cut done extension staff’s activities other than extension;
2) Separate extension service from income generation activities, such as selling fertilizer pesticides and fertilizers;
3) Increase extension investment in order to enable extension people carry out extension activities and reach communities;
4) Introduce participatory approach into extension system in order to give farmers sufficient chance to express their own interests, widen the use of farmer trains farmer approaches;
5) Raise the environmental awareness of all extension workers, update knowledge of extension staff by providing training opportunities to extension people with more emphasize on environmental consequences of technical extension activities.
3.3 Extend the mature high-efficient fertilization technology
Aimed at agriculture sustainable development, according to "high yield, good-quality, high-efficient "and "low consumption, non-pollution ", broaden the thinking, strengthen basic researches on agro-ecosystem nutrient cycling and its management, develop new fertilization techniques which are simple and easy to apply, and are suitable under different regional conditions , meanwhile strengthen integration of routine fertilization techniques, control non-point nitrogen and phosphorus pollution from agricultural chemicals from beginning.
First of all, confirm national division of main crop (wheat, maize and rice ) fertilization and proper amount of nitrogen fertilizer adopted to different areas according to scientific methods. Set up expert decision support system for precise fertilization at county scale based on soil nutrient status and transform processes and crop growth models. The system can be employed in equilibrium and precise fertilization, and can decrease fertilizer losses.
Secondly, promote the use of the proven technological measures that lower Npp. Such measures include : optimising the rate of nitrogen fertilizer application using existing recommended technologies; reducing the use of ammonium bicarbonate fertilizers; balanced fertilizer applications tailored to specific soil nutrient (including micronutrients) deficiencies, and cropping systems; deep placement of commercial fertilizers, the use of slow release fertilizers and other forms of precision agriculture; adoption of drip irrigation to raise both water and fertilizer use efficiency; encouraging the use of manures with improved management of the level and timing of manure applications; adoption of no-till and other conservation farming techniques to reduce phosphate and pesticide losses on eroded soil particles; and use of catch or cover crops and buffer strips or diversion drains to capture lost nutrients in natural vegetation or harvestable crops.
Finally study and popularize new fertilizers. On the basis of generalization of controlled release ammonium-carbon, controlled release urea, coated urea, enveloped fertilizer and high-efficient fertilizer applied on leaf surface, to develop environment-friendly controlled release urea and compound fertilizer to reduce the loss of N and P.
3.4 Implement basin planning and comprehensive management
Most European Commission member states adopt circulation economics and river basin management plans, implement environmental protection policy and regulation and carry on comprehensive planning and managing on river basin scale .
China should carry on comprehensive planning and managing on river basin level in NPP serious area. On the basis of economize N , controlled P , controlled pesticide in farmland , build interception system of farmland ecology to lower the discharge from farmland at original position; Disposal project for disperse sewage in the countryside; River ecological riverbed project; recycling project of livestock waste water.
The intercepts system of farmland ecology should be established on river basin level, on one hand adjust planting pattern, adopt interplanting, reduce land uncover when crop rotation , control and reduce the runoff of upland, bare ground and vegetable field; On the other hand, set up the ecological interception system to reduce farmland nutrient lost, transform traditional ditches and modern cement canals, set up ecology intercepting canals, lower nutrition density of farmland discharge water which enters peripheral water to protect water environment. Around high-risky pollution plots (vegetables plot or flowers plot ) , set up physics and biological isolated zone to prevent the spread of N and P.
Strengthen farmland water environmental protection, set up sewerage ecological disposal systems of which is low costs and contains, purify water contamination of farmland through artificial wetland and hydrophyte. Irrigate farmland with fishpond waste water. Launch ecological riverbed construction, use ecological community and bionics to repair the vegetation of river corridor, repair and rebuild water
