Science and Technology Daily:

We have noticed that in recent years, environment-friendly, low-carbon, and circular development is becoming a fundamental principle of agriculture. I wonder what measures have been taken by various localities and government departments to promote the green development of agriculture and what achievements have been made so far? Thanks. 

Zeng Yande:

The promotion of green agriculture is profoundly changing the outlook of agricultural development. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has attached great importance to the green development of agriculture, strengthened top-level design, and explored new institutional mechanisms to promote the green transition of agriculture. Various localities and government departments across China have earnestly implemented the decisions and plans of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, consciously taken green agriculture as a key part of implementing the rural revitalization strategy, innovated their thinking of work, redoubled efforts, and have thus made headway in green agriculture. Nowadays, mountains in rural areas have become greener, and waters clearer, the countryside has become more beautiful, and environment-friendliness has become a key feature of building a "Beautiful China." The achievements of green agriculture can be summarized as follows. 

First, agricultural resources have been effectively protected. We have established a principle of economical, intensive, and recyclable use of resources over the years, strengthened the protection of arable land, improved the crop rotation and fallow land system, and carried out campaigns to protect and improve the quality of arable land. As a result, the grade of arable land has reached 4.76 on average nationwide, 0.35 higher than that in 2014. We have also pursued higher efficiency of water usage through the implementation of total volume control and quota management system of agricultural irrigation water, as well as the promotion of water-saving through agricultural varieties, technologies, and engineering projects. Therefore, the irrigation water use coefficient has reached 0.568, 0.052 higher than ten years ago, which is a hard-won result. We have also enhanced biodiversity protection. The world's largest standalone state-level farm crop germplasm resource bank has been built with the strongest preservation capabilities. A series of national livestock and poultry genetic resource preservation areas and aquatic germplasm resource preservation zones have also been built. 

Second, agriculture-related pollution has been effectively contained. In the past years, we have expedited green agricultural production and gradually improved the environment of places of production. We have scaled back and made more efficient use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, through organic fertilizers made from fruits, vegetables, and tea, and the promotion of lesser and more efficient use of pesticides. As a result, the usage rate of chemical fertilizers and pesticides has surpassed 40%, and the amount has declined for years. We have also strengthened our capabilities of recycling and reusing the waste from livestock and poultry. All major animal husbandry counties in China have pushed forward comprehensive usage of livestock and poultry waste, and all large-scale livestock farms have been equipped with waste disposal devices. Therefore, the comprehensive utilization rate of livestock and poultry waste has reached 76% nationwide, 16 percentage points higher than that in 2015. We have also made better use of crop straws and agricultural plastic films. As we promoted the usage of crop straw as fertilizers, feed, and energy, its comprehensive utilization rate has reached 87%. We have also strengthened whole-process supervision of agricultural plastic film production, sales, usage, and recycling. The recycle and reuse rate has topped 80%, marking key progress in combating white pollution in farmland. 

Third, the agricultural ecosystem has been effectively restored. We have coordinated the conservation of mountain, river, forest, farmland, lake, grassland, and desert ecosystems and strengthened the recycling capabilities of the agricultural ecosystem. The farm field ecosystem has been protected and restored, the layout and construction of the farm-forest network have been optimized, and the mode of raising fish in rice fields has been promoted to achieve greater stability of the agricultural ecosystem. We have also protected the forest and grassland ecosystems, carried out large-scale national afforestation campaigns, and fully implemented systems of prohibiting grazing and grazing rest, as well as balancing between grassland and livestock. As a result, China's forest coverage rate topped 23%, and the national vegetation fractional coverage of grasslands reached 58%, contributing to the largest newly added greening areas in the world. We have also protected and recovered the ecosystems of key basins. We have worked to steadily contain the overexploitation of groundwater in the Yellow River basin. The ten-year fishing ban on the Yangtze River has made initial progress, and the river's aquatic biodiversity has gradually recovered. 

Fourth, we have accelerated the construction of the green, low-carbon agricultural industry chain. Green agriculture has seen more room for development along the entire industry chain, and a green and low-carbon production mode featuring conservation and moderation has been developed. The agricultural product processing industry has stepped up the green transition, and the standard agricultural product processing system has been improved. We have been pursuing fewer losses and higher efficiency in processing agricultural products, contributing to a steady rise in the capabilities of comprehensively processing and using agricultural products. An environment-friendly circulation system is being established, and the cold-chain logistics network has been improved. About 51,000 cold storage facilities have been built at places of agricultural production, which has significantly improved the capabilities of such places in processing agricultural products at low temperatures and commodifying their farm produce. Green, low-carbon agricultural parks have been steadily built. Modern agriculture industrial parks, demonstration zones for agricultural modernization, and pilot zones of green agricultural development have been pushing forward standardized agricultural production featuring better varieties, qualities, and branding so that they have successfully used their entire chain. Thank you. 

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