China has worked to develop agroenvironmental protection programs since 1971. During this time, networks for management, research, monitoring and agroenvironmental education programs have been established. The development of these systems has focused on integrating agricultural development and environmental protection. There are currently more than 2000 experimental agriculture sites designed to reduce environmental damage associated with agriculture and to conserve natural resources. This program includes more than 500 monitoring stations country-wide.
There are three types of serious environmental problems in China: pollution, natural resource deterioration, and ecosystem damage. Pollution from both urban sources and agricultural chemicals is becoming increasingly serious. An estimated 10 million hectares (ha) of farmland are currently polluted resulting in a direct economic loss of 15 billion Yuan (RMB). This is a particularly serious problem in China because the arable land per capita is less than 0.1 hectare (one-third the global average). Water resources are also scarce and are threatened by pollution and forests. Grasslands are becoming increasingly degraded due to human activities and pollution. For these reasons, there is now a very significant attempt to develop sustainable, non-polluting agricultural systems in China.
Chinese eco-agriculture (CEA) is based on principles that arose from numerous ecological, agricultural and economic studies. CEA was designed to treat the agricultural system as a living eco-economic system and thus to ensure that the flow of material, energy and information must be reasonably recyclable while maintaining relatively high yields. To obtain these goals, the CEA program seeks to scientifically manage the human agricultural relationship in order to maintain sustainable agricultural systems. The CEA system has been applied from the level of the single household up to the level of an entire county.
Several examples follow:
This village has been a CEA site since 1982. Part of the farmland
is used to grow feedcrops for animal husbandry as well as for biofuel
production. These efforts are linked with the market system and the
results have been dramatic increases in grain production and income.
This example of an eco-household is a house located on 27 ha of
sloped land with very serious soil erosion problems. To address these
problems, the family planted 20 ha of forest and added water drops
and checkdams to reduce erosion. Farming, animal husbandry and
resource use were linked together in order to reduce wastes. The
household income was over 6000 yuan compared to an average income of
<1500 yuan for non-CEA households.
On this state farm with a fish pond, conifers were planted in 1985
and an irrigation system was installed. Production value from the
fish pond was over eight fold higher than other fish ponds in the
area and the income in 1992 was over 80 times higher than non-CEA
fish ponds nearby. In addition to the economic gains, over 37 new
species of birds were attracted to the habitat.
In a county with over 3,500 square kilometers, 23 townships and a
population of over half a million, 670 km2 of land were reforested,
resulting in reduced soil erosion. In addition, animal husbandry and
waste recycling systems were put into place. Legume crops were
planted to increase N fixation and for use in the weaving industry.
Following the initiation of the CEA system, the county went from
being grain limited to being a producer of excess grain. In addition,
there were large increases in per capita income (90 to 820 yuan).
Fifty CEA counties have been created in recent years for a total of about 100. Since 1992, the National Environmental Protection Agency (NEPA) in China has developed a system of grain production that is based on sustainable agriculture principles. The benefits of the CEA systems range from increased preservation of the natural environment to increased yields and per capita income among its participating households, villages and counties. As a result, the system is viewed favorably by both farmers and agricultural administrators. Eventually, the system may become the nationwide strategy for agricultural development. However, the system relies on a large amount of labor and human wisdom and there is still a great deal of research to be done. Nonetheless, the system is a dramatic example of the potential to combine sustainable development and an improved life for agriculturally-based communities.
During the process of the CEA experiment, the concepts of eco-agriculture and eco-economics have been raised in China. As part of a general development model for the region, these concepts may be helpful in addressing the issue of sustainable development.