Mr. Chairman, Vice-Chairs, Dear Members,
First of all, please allow me to commend the Working Group on Sustainable Agriculture for their work. We will take their valuable recommendations into serious consideration in our future work in the Ministry of Agriculture.
I would like to take this opportunity to brief you on what the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) has done in implementing the strategy of sustainable agriculture. In the late 1970s, the concept of eco-agriculture was introduced into China. Thanks to the contribution of Chinese experts and farmers the concept of eco-agriculture has now evolved to a point that is close to sustainable agriculture. The two concepts are mutually replaceable.
Chin has had the long tradition of sustainable agriculture. For thousands of years, China's agriculture has provided food for the Chinese people. Chinese civilization owes its continuation and development to the support of agriculture. From traditional agriculture, we can inherit many things, such as the use of organic fertilizer, the use of bean family crops, the building of a benign cycle between mulberry base and fish pond, and many other unique farming methods for transforming mountains, taming rivers and conserving rainwater, and so forth.
Since China adopted its reform and open policy, some advanced technologies that are good for sustainable agriculture have been introduced into our country. For example, the no-plowing practice introduced from the United States, and watersaving agriculture introduced from Israel, have been spread to many parts of China; and plastic film cover technique and rice dry-cultivating & sparse-planting techniques have been introduced from Japan.
Chinese farmers and agricultural scientists and experts have also created new techniques by themselves.
One is the use of methane gas. In the northern parts of China, such as Liaoning Province, farmers adopt the practice of linking plastic film shelter with methane-generating pits (from pigsty and toilet), so that methane gas can be generated even in the very coldest days of winter. In Ganzhou, Jiangxi Province, of south China, farmers adopt the pigsty-methane-orchard model. These techniques have proven very effective and are widely accepted by farmers.
Furthermore, China's agricultural and scientific experts have developed a broadcast sowing technique for rice seedling. This method combines the broadcast sowing technique with the dry-cultivation along with sparse-planting technique, thus liberating farmers from the strenuous labour of bending over to transplant rice. This kind of technique not only saves time and labour, but also increases production. It has been widely accepted by farmers and has quickly spread across the country.
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* Vice Minister of Agriculture of China
Still another example is the utilization of biotechnology in agriculture. Chinese scientists have successfully cultivated anti-insect varieties of cotton and rice, which provide the basis for the comprehensive prevention and control of plan t diseases and the reduction of pesticide use.
Despite of all these new techniques and developments, we have to e aware that China's agriculture is faced with serious ecological and resource problems. The reality remains that China has to feed its large population on relatively scarce l and. This cannot be changed. The people's demand for agricultural products is al so increasing all the time. Therefore, a main objective and guiding principle of the MOA is to control any trend toward environmental pollution and ecological de gradation, and to bring about improvement of environmental quality in some key areas, while fostering rural economic development, ensuring agricultural product supply and increasing farmers' income. As to what are the urgent issues that the MOA should address in order to promote sustainable agriculture and eco-agriculture, we are currently organizing exerts to conduct investigation and formulate plans. We have tentatively proposed ten priority areas as outlined below.
1) The first priority area is the protection of arable land. Arable land is the most important resource for agricultural production. Setting up basic protected farmland areas is a very effective measure for protecting arable land. The means of achieving this is to demarcate basic farmland, erect stakes along the demarcated border, and make the demarcation legally binding. Basic farmland must not be occupied for other purposes, be it for infrastructure construction or industrial development. This work requires the collaboration between the MOA and National Land Administration.
2) The second priority area is the implementation of the "Fertile Land Programme " aimed at preventing land degradation. This is obviously a broad area and MOA cannot deal with all the problems. MOA is mainly involved in preventing soil pollution and land productivity exhaustion. This Programme includes:
(1) applying fertilizer in an accurate and balanced way;
(2) combining organic and inorganic fertilizer;
(3) applying fertilizer deep into the ground;
(4) tackling the problem of soil nutrient loss and the eutrophication problems in rivers, lakes and ground water;
(5) using stalks in a comprehensive way;
(6) promoting the fertility of soils by developing animal husbandry and returning the manure and ground stalks to farmland;
(7) going all our for preventing and controlling plant diseases and reducing the use of chemicals;
(8) preventing and controlling the harm done by urban and industrial wastes to agriculture;
(9) spread farming methods that help conserve water and soil; and so forth.
3) The third priority area is the protection and construction of grassland for the prevention of land desertification. We are very pleased to see that the Working Group on Sustainable Agriculture has carried out some research on grassland in northern China and will also do research on grassland in southern China. The ma in problem with grassland construction is that of institution, that is, how to establish the family contract responsibility system. If this system could be well established, the farmers and herdspeople will be more motivated to contribute to grassland building and protection. In the south of China where grassland covers an area of more than 400 million acres, animal husbandry could be further developed because there is heavy rainfall and lush growth of grass to promote vegetables, fruits and flowers, because warmhouses have low evaporation.
4) The fourth priority area is water-saving agriculture. Engineering measures and agricultural measures should be combined to develop water-saving agriculture and promote a more efficient utilization rate of waster.
5) The fifth priority area is to conserve rainwater for agricultural purposes. On the one hand, modern techniques should be adopted to conserve rainwater in the soil so as to raise the utilization rate of rainwater by crops; on the other hand, , rainwater on the earth's surface should also be conserved as a source of irrigation for water for farmland.
6) The sixth priority area is to establish an engineering system for sustainable agriculture. With the development of urbanization and industrialization, more and more rural people are turning to secondary and tertiary industries. Farmers a re in urgent need of mechanization. Mechanization will help promote agricultural productivity; land output and add value to agriculture.
7) The seventh priority is the construction of ecological counties. We are currently implementing a programme of building 50 ecological counties in various ecological regions. Upon completion of this programme, we plan to expand it to include 100 counties. The purpose of building ecological counties is to seek out eco-agricultural models in the light of the local eco-environment, and then to establish indicator systems for examination in order to achieve the benign cycle of agricultural ecology in these counties.
8) The eighth area of priority is rural energy construction. The guideline is to popularize methane gas use, develop various energy sources, and combine energy development with energy saving. Rural energy construction would help reduce the harmful effects of human activities on forest and vegetation.
9) The ninth area of priority is to conduct training courses for farmers in order to promote environmental awareness and motivate the building of eco-agriculture.
10) The tenth area of priority is to establish the supporting legal system for sustainable agriculture.
I would lie to conclude my remarks by saying that the Ministry of Agriculture is willing to have sectional meeting with the working groups on cleaner production, energy and bio-diversity, on subjects of agriculture, village and township industrial enterprises and fishery, to mention but a few. We would be very thankful if the Secretariat could help set up such a meeting between MOA and the Working Group on Sustainable Agriculture in the near future, since MOA is currently formulating plans for feasible eco-agriculture projects. We welcome recommendations and suggestions by CCICED.
Thank you all.
