Are you still using it? Shanghai farmers present new answers, lamented by American experts a century ago in the Eastern wisdom cycle | agriculture | wisdom
"Eastern agriculture is the most excellent agriculture in the world, and Eastern farmers are hardworking and intelligent biologists." More than 100 years ago, Professor Franklin H. King of the University of Wisconsin in the United States, after inspecting the agricultural systems of the three East Asian countries with precision farming as their characteristic, wrote "Farmers of Four Thousand Years" and expressed such admiration.
Drawing nutrients from traditional agricultural models and innovating ecological cycle models, domestic agriculture is walking on the path of sustainable development. Currently, Shanghai is making every effort to develop ecological circular agriculture. Two integrated ecological circular agriculture demonstration zones, 10 ecological circular agriculture demonstration towns, and 100 ecological circular agriculture demonstration bases have been established, forming a preliminary system for the circular utilization of large, medium, and small ecological agriculture, and actively exploring ecological paths with urban agricultural characteristics.
Make full use of industrial chain resources
What kind of wisdom has been nurtured by the traditional agricultural system? In "The Farmer of Four Thousand Years", Jin has the following insight: every edible thing is considered food for humans or livestock, while things that cannot be eaten or worn are used as fuel
Drawing on traditional wisdom and combining modern technology, Shanghai is aiming for environmental friendliness, resource conservation, and high output efficiency, exploring new innovative development models in the field of breeding and animal husbandry, and achieving the full utilization of resources in the industrial chain.
The building pig farming project put into operation by Shanghai Songlin Food Group in Jinshan Corridor has achieved the utilization of manure resources in the breeding farm, and has emerged as a new model of "pig biogas vegetable" and "pig biogas rice" for agriculture and animal husbandry.
The pigsty is equipped with an environmental control system that can achieve ammonia removal, dust removal, and deodorization. On the basis of the combination of planting and breeding, pig manure is treated with three-stage anaerobic treatment to meet the national standard requirements for biogas slurry. The fully decomposed biogas slurry is then returned to the field through an automated pump in the storage tank, becoming a high-quality liquid organic fertilizer for rice fields, orchards, and vegetable gardens.
The relevant person in charge of the enterprise introduced that the Jinshan Langxia pig breeding project has laid a pipeline network of about 20000 meters. In 2022, the area of organic liquid fertilizer returning to the field is about 9000 acres, covering more than 3000 acres of vegetables and rice around the pig farm, radiating over 5000 acres of good farmland and other areas in Jinshan Langxia, Shanghai. Nearly 63000 tons of biogas slurry have been returned to the field, with an annual output of 600 tons of solid manure. The use of chemical fertilizers in farmland has been reduced by more than 30%, which has curbed the decrease in soil organic matter and promoted industrial income growth.
As a type of agricultural waste, straw was once the most common way to dispose of it, which not only pollutes the environment but also damages soil structure. With the promotion of innovative treatment processes, straw is gradually turning waste into treasure. Data shows that as of the end of 2022, the utilization rate of crop straw in Shanghai exceeded 98%.
At the Jinshan District Lianzhong Edible Mushroom Professional Cooperative, the world's most advanced fermentation technology for Agaricus bisporus cultivation materials is being put into effect. After mixing rice and wheat straw with animal manure, it undergoes primary and secondary fermentation to transform into a selective culture medium that can be utilized by Agaricus bisporus. After sowing, it is concentrated in a fermentation tunnel to produce three fermentation culture materials.
Under this technology, the cooperative can achieve an annual production of 80000 tons of triple cultivation materials for Agaricus bisporus, cultivate 840000 square meters of Agaricus bisporus, and produce 25000 tons of fresh mushrooms. Not only does it deliver to mushroom farmers in the surrounding areas and the Yangtze River Delta region, but it also exports to countries such as South Korea, Thailand, and Malaysia.
Promote reduced production
A while ago, an industry expert came to Jiading Malu Grape Park. When Shan Tao, the site leader, said that the soil organic matter content in the shed reached 3%, he asked someone to take a shovel to dig underground. Earthworms appear when the shovel is inserted into 2/3 of the soil. With intuitive evidence, experts believe this value.
Good soil is derived from the practice of environmentally friendly planting models in Malu Grape Park over the years. In order to improve the health of the soil, Malu Grape Park uses organic matter in the park to produce organic fertilizer. "Abandoned branches are not only recycled, reducing environmental pollution, but also saving the cost of purchasing commercial fertilizers," said Shan Tao.
The park also cleverly utilizes other plants. For example, planting leguminous green manure such as fava beans can increase soil nitrogen content; By using grass cultivation, soil permeability can be enhanced. When crushed and returned to the field for storage in the grape root zone, it can not only reduce soil temperature on hot days, but also serve as organic fertilizer to supplement nutrients for fruit trees.
Reduced production is another aspect of ecological circular agriculture. "Shanghai continues to promote efficient fertilizers and fertilization technologies, and promote the reduction of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. In the past five years, the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides in suburban areas has decreased by 35% and 42% respectively." The Municipal Agriculture and Rural Affairs Commission introduced that around the entire production process, Shanghai is deeply promoting research and industrial development of ecological low-carbon agriculture. Since the 13th Five Year Plan, Shanghai's agricultural science and technology achievements have won 6 national science and technology awards, and 75 Shanghai science and technology awards.
Starting from the seed source, the Raleijun team has developed water-saving and drought resistant rice, accompanied by a green cultivation technology system, which can save 50% of water. At present, the annual promotion area in China exceeds 3 million mu, with a yield of over 600 kilograms per mu. In the "the Belt and Road" countries, trial planting and demonstration have also been carried out one after another, and the output is generally more than 20% higher than that of local varieties.
The Zhou Sheng team from Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences focuses on "low-carbon rice cultivation methods.". "Each crop has a suitable fertilization range, and even if excessive fertilizer is applied, the crop's absorption is limited." Zhou Sheng used straw returning as an example, which can to some extent increase soil organic matter. But if the timing of returning farmland is not appropriate, the increased greenhouse gas emissions will actually be greater than the soil carbon sink.
To this end, the team set up rice experimental fields at the base, and through comparing control variables such as fertilization level, fertilizer type, crop rotation system, and irrigation water amount, long-term tracking and monitoring of rice yield, greenhouse gas emissions, and soil carbon sequestration capacity, ultimately forming a rice field ecosystem carbon sequestration and emission reduction technology system without affecting yield.
Realize wider participation of citizens
At present, Shanghai has established two integrated ecological circular agriculture demonstration zones, 10 ecological circular agriculture demonstration towns, and 100 ecological circular agriculture demonstration bases, forming a batch of replicable and promotable ecological circular agriculture production models.
For urban agriculture, environmentally friendly production is not only a way to increase the value of agricultural products and differentiate competition, but also a way to strengthen integration with the tertiary industry based on ecology, promote the development of tourism products and projects, carry out micro characteristic activities for agricultural and fun experiences, and enhance sustainable development capabilities.
To produce first-class agricultural products, we must start with maintaining the ecological environment. After years of practice, the once unknown town of Malu is closely connected to grapes. In order to improve the stickiness of urban customers, Malu Grape Park has opened up multiple self harvesting areas, expanded variety types, and raised the self harvesting time from early July to early June, with a harvesting time of up to 100 days.
The annual Malu Grape Festival is not only a heavyweight brand culture promotion, but also a grape technology and cultural promotion activity. As this geographical brand becomes increasingly prominent, the local area is planning to create an ecological space of "One Belt, One Heart, Two Rings, and Three Zones". Based on the current homestays, picking, sightseeing, dining, and other related resources, we will develop related cultural and creative industries around the Jiayuan Sea Art Museum and related resources.
Standing in the current era of integration of the three industries, industry insiders are looking forward to the future form of agriculture. Wen Tiejun, an expert on agriculture, rural areas and farmers, put forward the concept of "Agriculture 4.0", which is closely combined with Internet tools to further incorporate non economic functions such as education, culture and historical inheritance. At the same time, incorporating rural landscapes, local culture, and localized symbols into leisure tourism and health preservation for diversified development.
The commonality of these explorations is to achieve a greater degree of socialized ecological agriculture with widespread participation from citizens. The emerging shared farm in China can be seen as one of the early practical models. For example, Hefeng Farm located in Pudong has been adhering to the ecological planting model for a long time, and has carried out businesses such as farm adoption, peach pre-sale, and land leasing, establishing more stable cooperative relationships with urban residents. Last year, the farm also opened up a dedicated plot of land, divided according to the 24 solar terms, to welcome more urban farmers.
"We hope to enhance mutual trust, attract more consumers who pay attention to health, agricultural culture, and agricultural tourism, and build a rural community outside of family and work scenes," said founder Qiu Minghui.
