Organic Agriculture and Biodiversity in China

By Lei Wang

Organic Farming and Biodiversity in China: Protection and Agricultural Pollution Mitigation Effects gives quantitative comparison of biodiversity between organic and conventional farming, provides evaluation on the biodiversity protection mechanism for organic farming, by using an integrative approach to analyze the relationship between agricultural inputs, waste, farming management, government policy and biodiversity in different agro-ecosystems. It also discusses the ecological, economic, and social benefits of organic farming.

Written by experts from the Organic Food Development Center of the Ministry of Environmental Protection (OFDC-MEE) - the pioneers of the organic movement in China - this book explores the role that organic farming plays in biodiversity protection, and how the government can support or hinder organic farming. Using the methods of long-term field experiment, field survey, and meta-analysis, the book reviews not yet translated studies in China, therefore unavailable to the English readership, to provide systematic comparison of biodiversity between organic and conventional farming.

Organic Farming and Biodiversity in China: Protection and Agricultural Pollution Mitigation Effects is an important resource for researchers and students. It also appeals to policy makers as well as the general public seeking to understand the environmental impact of organic agriculture and the guidance of government policy in China and other regions in the world.

• Reviews the origin and development of organic agriculture
• Introduces the current status and policies of biodiversity conservation in China
• Compares the biodiversity between organic and conventional agriculture
• Presents innovative information from exclusive studies on organic agriculture development and biodiversity protection in China

• Language: English
• Publisher: Academic Press
• Release date: Feb 23, 2024
• ISBN: 9780323908238

Book preview

1: Introduction

Feilong Hu ¹ , Lei Wang ² , and Dandan Yu ¹       ¹Nanjing Institute of Environmental Sciences, Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China      ²China Institute for Marine Affairs, Ministry of Natural Resources, Beijing, Hebei, China

Acknowledgment

References

December 7–19, 2022, the 15th Conference of the Parties (COP15) of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity was held in Montreal, Canada. COP15 adopted the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (hereinafter referred to as the Kunming-Montreal GBF), which proposes a package of solutions including spatial planning, ecological restoration, agrobiodiversity conservation, and sustainable supply chains, drawing a new blueprint for biodiversity conservation efforts throughout the world (Fig. 1.1).

Agricultural development is intertwined with the fate of global biodiversity. Agricultural land accounts for one-third of the world’s total land mass, with China’s farmlands accounting for 9.9% of the global total (Li et al., 2020). Food and agricultural biodiversity are the cornerstones of global food security. This include the crops and livestock that form the staples of our diets, as well as the large number of wild species that contribute to our food and material supplies (Sherry et al., 2020). Without agrobiodiversity, global food security and sustainable development would lose essential support. The world produced 9.2 billion tons of crops in 2018, 50% more than in 2000, with half of that production coming from sugarcane, corn, wheat, and rice. Wild fishes provide 90 million tons of food each year and are a major protein source for many coastal communities (FAO, 2020). Wild foods from forests and other terrestrial habitats are an important source of nutrition for millions of people (McNaughton et al., 1989), and in many cases help nourish people after poor harvests and mitigate against crop failures (Michael et al., 2019). The world’s agriculture relies on irrigation from healthy and functioning ecosystems, on stable and healthy soils, and on the insects, bats, and birds that pollinate crops and provide biological pest control (Dinesh et al., 2018; Tscharntke et al., 2008). Microbes are the driving force behind many of the world’s food processing industries, ranging from traditional crop fermentation in rural areas to yogurt production by large food corporations. Wild relatives of crops support breeding efforts toward protection against emerging crop diseases and climate change. Home vegetable gardens provide dietary supplements for billions of people. Genetic diversity in crop and livestock breeds means we enjoy a greater variety of flavors and textures in our food, and allows food production in many different climates, soil types, and environmental conditions (Bakhsh et al., 2021).

Figure 1.1  COP15 President Huang Runqiu (second from left) and then Executive Secretary of the Convention Elisabeth Maruma Mrema (far right) applauding the adoption of the Kunming-Montreal GBF in December 2022.

Agricultural biodiversity, or agrobiodiversity, refers to the varieties and variations of all fauna, flora, and microorganisms, including crops, livestock, trees, and fish, which are used directly or indirectly as food and in agriculture. It is created and managed by farmers, herdsmen, fishermen, and forest dwellers and covers the diversity of genetic resources (varieties) and species that are used as food, feedstuff, fiber, fuel, and medicine. Agricultural biodiversity also encompasses the diversity of nonharvested species (soil microbes, predators, pollinators) that support production, the diversity of species that support the broader agroecosystem environment (agricultural, pastoral, forest, and aquatic) and the diversity of agroecosystems as a whole (FAO & PAR, 2011).

Appropriate cropping systems: Biodiversity-rich agroecosystems provide us with a wide variety of foods that we can use to enhance food security and boost our nutritional intake by broadening the food base and diversifying diets (Fig. 1.2). Even with the same crop, there can be significant variations in nutritional content among different varieties. Different varieties of rice may have protein content anywhere from 5% to 14%; beta carotene content across different sweet potato varieties can be as much as 60% apart; banana varieties vary greatly in vitamin A content, from less than 1 microgram to more than 8500 micrograms per hectogram. As such, proper measures are required to enable diversified cropping systems and avoid monoculture. We must organically combine crops with different ecological traits and vegetation forms to enrich and expand the ecological niches of farmlands and establish an eco-friendly agricultural production system. For example, we can use mixed farming, organic farming, integrated disease and pest management, organic fertilizers such as legumes, crop rotation, recycling crop and animal waste, zero or minimum-tillage, intercropping or multi-cropping, and mulching.

Sensible consumption structure: Establish a sustainable consumer mindset, adopt good nutritional habits, and limit overconsumption across the board, especially of meat. Support local food growers wherever possible by buying their products or volunteering your time to support them. Stop consuming species that are dwindling in numbers or on the brink of extinction. Grow native plants that support pollinators in your area. Minimize the use of water, chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides by increasing efficiency and switching to species better suited to local conditions.

Figure 1.2  Oryza sativa L. on the mountains.

Acknowledgment

This book was funded by Environmental Protection Public Benefit Research Foundation of China (No. 201309036) and the Central Public-Interest Scientific Institution Basal Research Fund (No. ZX2022QT043). after the as well as food security and ecological safety in China and the world over.

In the last twodecades, however, the expansion of farming has become one of the major causes of biodiversity loss due to continued population growth and fundamental dietary shifts. Despite the gaps in our knowledge that still remain, evidence already suggests that both wild and domesticated food and agricultural biodiversity are declining. In general, traditional livestock and crop species are being abandoned and some are on even the verge of extinction, as agriculture moves toward greater specialization; at least 28% of all local livestock varieties are at risk. Food production is heavily dependent on a small number of species: two-thirds of global crop production come from just nine species, and eight species are responsible for 97% of all meat production (FAO, 2019). In terms of wildlife biodiversity in food and agriculture systems, nearly one-third of marine fish stocks are overfished, another one-third of freshwater fishes are at risk of extinction, and nearly one-fifth of the species recorded as a human food source on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species are listed as endangered. Key ecosystems supporting food and agriculture (ecosystems being part of biodiversity) are also disappearing, as is the biodiversity associated with them, such as pollinators.

Internationally, agrobiodiversity is essential in implementation of the Convention (hereinafter the Convention) and has undergone a series of developments and evolutions throughout negotiation process of the Convention. From the Convention's first proposal of sustainable agricultural development to the Aichi Biodiversity Targets (hereinafter Aichi Targets), to the Sharm El-Sheikh to Kunming Action Agenda for Nature and People, and to the latest Kunming-Montreal GBF, agrobiodiversity is becoming increasingly visible to the Parties, international organizations and experts alike (Gao et al., 2021). Target 10 of the Kunming-Montreal GBF laid out detailed targets for sustainable agriculture, i.e., (by 2030) ensure that areas under agriculture, aquaculture, fisheries and forestry are managed sustainably, in particular through the sustainable use of biodiversity, including through a substantial increase of the application of biodiversity friendly practices, such as sustainable intensification, agroecological and other innovative approaches, contributing to the resilience and long-term efficiency and productivity of these production systems, and to food security, conserving and restoring biodiversity and maintaining nature’s contributions to people, including ecosystem functions and services. This just illustrates the irreplaceable role of sustainable farming practices in the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity in our world.

Organic agriculture is a way of production based on natural laws and ecological principles to strike a balance between production and environment protection. It seeks to foster sustainable and stable agricultural production systems through a variety of sustainable agricultural technologies. This practice holds immense promise in protecting the ecological environment, preventing soil erosion, preserving biodiversity and genetic diversity, and promoting the sustainability of agroecosystems. Organic agriculture respects local ecological rhythms, biodiversity, and natural cycles without relying on inputs that could cause adverse effects. Combining traditional farming and innovative thinking with science and technology, organic agriculture contributes to the preservation of our shared habitat, and to the equitable and harmonious symbiosis among all members of the natural world, humans included.

Organic farming practices have proven: Organic agricultural systems can maintain biodiversity in a variety of ways, including boosting the population and diversity of wildlife on farms, promoting high levels of agricultural diversity, maintaining healthy soils and soil fauna population, reducing the risk of water contamination, using energy efficiently, and reducing carbon dioxide emissions to mitigate the impact of global warming on biodiversity. An organic farming system advocates for appropriate use of intercropping and crop rotation, tillage and harvest, agricultural inputs, variety introduction, among others, which help to control agricultural pollution to the environment, increase natural enemy population and biodiversity, and restore and improve the agricultural production environments. Then, the impact of farming activities on biodiversity can be avoided or reduced in the course of agricultural production. Organic agriculture advocates for application of integrated ecological approaches to healthy cultivation and animal farming, with agronomic measures as the mainstay and supplemented by suitable biological and physical control techniques. Highlighting the inherent disease resistance of crops and the role of natural enemies of pests, crop rotation and intercropping establish an integrated crop-tree-animal production system. Such a system offers habitats for beneficial organisms and attracts natural enemies of pests and pollinating insects into the agricultural system. This kind of disease and insect control through the mutualism between organisms achieves biodiversity conservation of a superior order.

Organic agriculture and other sustainable farming practices nurture biodiversity, which in turn safeguard food security and human health. The two components form a virtuous circle where they are as much a purpose in itself as a means to an end. Research on biodiversity conservation and organic agriculture will have important theoretical and practical bearings on the agrobiodiversity conservation in China, the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal GBF, as well as food security and ecological safety in China and the world over.

References

1. Bakhsh A, Lee S, Lee E, ·Hwang Y, Joo S. Traditional plant-based meat alternatives, current, and future perspective: A review. Journal of Agriculture & Life Science. 2021;55(1):1–11.

2. Dinesh G, Ramesh P, Chitra N, Sugumaran M. Ecology of birds and insects in organic and conventional (in-organic) rice ecosystem. International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences. 2018;7(4):1769–1779.

3. FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations), . World food and agriculture - statistical yearbook. 2020.

4. FAO commission on genetic resources for food and agriculture, . The state of the world’s biodiversity for food and agriculture. 2019.

9001. FAO & PAR, . Biodiversity for Food and Agriculture: Contribution to food security and sustainability in a changing world. 2011.

5. Gao L, Wang L, Hu F, Yang L. Recent progress of agro-biodiversity conservation and implications for agricultural development in China. Biodiversity Science. 2021;29(2):177–183 (in Chinese with English abstract).

6. Li L, Hu R, Huang J, Bürgi M, Zhu Z, Zhong J, Lu Z. A farmland biodiversity strategy is needed for China. Nature Ecoloy Evolution. 2020;4(6):772–774.

7. McNaughton S, Oesterheld M, Frank D, Williams K. Ecosystem-level patterns of primary productivity and herbivory in terrestrial habitats. Nature. 1989;341:142–144.

8. Michael D, Simon D, Mike H, James W, Nicola S, Olly W, Jeanette W. Measuring the success of climate change adaptation and mitigation in terrestrial ecosystems. Science. 2019;366(6471):31831643.

9. Sherry A, Laura M, Rachel R, Santiago L, Natalia P, Nilupa S. Maize agro-food systems to ensure food and nutrition security in reference to the sustainable development goals. Global Food Security. 2020;25:100327.

10. Tscharntke T, Sekercioglu C, Dietsch T, Sodhi N, Hoehn P, Tylianakis J. Landscape constraints on functional diversity of birds and insects in tropical agroecosystems. Ecology. 2008;89(4):944–951.

2: The origin and development of organic agriculture in China

Mingqing Liu, Yunguan Xi, and Zejiang Zhou     Nanjing Institute of Environmental Sciences, Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China

Abstract

The Chinese government advocates the development of green agriculture and vigorously promotes the development of organic agriculture. Since the Rural Ecosystem Division, Nanjing Institute of Environmental Sciences, State Environmental Protection Administration of the People's Republic of China joined the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements in 1987, organic agriculture in China has been developing for over 30 years. The relevant authorities of the Chinese government have been actively formulating regulations and standards for the production, processing, and sales of organic products. With the establishment of a number of national organic food production demonstration bases, China's organic industry entered a period of rapid development in 2010, and the number of organic certificates issued greatly increased. In the future, the development of China's organic industry will be based on the domestic market, promote the optimization of the global organic industry chain and supply chain, and ultimately achieve high-quality development of the organic industry.

Keywords

Development prospect; Environmental protection; Organic agriculture; Organization form; Sustainable development.

Abbreviations

2.1 Introduction

2.2 What is organic agriculture?

2.3 Global development of organic agriculture

2.3.1 Organic 1.0—pioneers from around the world

2.3.2 Organic 2.0—norming and performing

2.3.3 Organic 3.0—goal and concept

2.4 Rise and development of the organic agriculture in China

2.5 Organizational forms and characteristics of organic production subjects in China

2.6 Development prospects of organic agriculture in China

Acknowledgments

References

Abbreviations

CGFDC    China Green Food Development Center, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs

CNAB    China National Accreditation Board for Certifiers

CNCA    Certification and Accreditation Administration of the People's Republic of China

CSA    Community-supported agriculture

IFOAM    International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements

IFOAM-OI    IFOAM-Organics International

NIES    Nanjing Institute of Environmental Sciences, Ministry of Ecology and Environment, China

OCIA    Organic Crop Improvement Association, USA

OFDC    Organic Food Development Center, Ministry of Ecology and Environment, China

SEPA    State Environmental Protection Administration, China

2.1. Introduction

The ecological environment is the foundation of human survival and development, and maintaining a sound ecological environment is the common aspiration of people worldwide. Chinese people have respected and loved nature since ancient times. Nowadays, the Chinese government still regards the construction of ecological civilization as the basic principle of sustainable development of the national economy (Shen et al., 2020). The concept that Lucid Waters and Lush Mountains are Invaluable Assets has been deeply rooted in the psyche of Chinese people. In his opening speech at the high-level meeting of the 15th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, held in Montreal, Canada, in 2022, Jinping Xi, the president of the People's Republic of China (PRC), stated that Humanity is a community with a shared future, and only through unity and cooperation can we effectively respond to global challenges. Ecological prosperity leads to civilization. We should work together to promote harmonious coexistence between humans and nature, build a community of life on Earth, and build a clean and beautiful world. China should promote green development through biodiversity conservation, accelerate the transformation of development and lifestyle, and lead by global development initiatives to bring more tangible benefits to people worldwide. The Chinese government is developing a path of biodiversity conservation with Chinese characteristics, actively promoting the construction of ecological civilization, biodiversity conservation, and ecosystem diversity.

Green development of agriculture means a profound revolution of people's outlook on agriculture and a major measure to accelerate agricultural modernization and promote sustainable agricultural development (Adnan et al., 2019; Koohafkan et al., 2012). Promoting green agricultural development is of great significance for ensuring national food and resource security and maintaining sustainable development. The green development of agriculture emphasizes resource conservation, environmental protection, ecological protection, improving product quality, and achieving coordinated development between production and ecology (Crowder et al., 2010; Reganold & Wachter, 2016). Organic agriculture is an advanced manifestation of green development of agriculture (Gomiero et al., 2011). Organic agriculture follows specific production standards for organic agriculture, does not use genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and their products, does not use synthetic chemical substances, including pesticides, fertilizers, growth regulators, feed additives, follows natural laws and ecological principles, coordinates the balance of crop cultivation and animal rearing, and adopts a series of sustainable agricultural technologies to maintain a sustainable and stable agricultural production system. In the past few decades, scientists worldwide have revealed the positive effects of organic agriculture on the population size and diversity of birds, insects, plants, and soil microbiome in agricultural ecosystems by comparing conventional and organic agriculture (Bengtsson et al., 2005; Genghini et al., 2006; Gibson et al., 2007; Henneron et al., 2015). After building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, China will continue to strive for common prosperity for all people and achieve rural revitalization. China is committed to developing organic agriculture and related industries, strengthening and expanding the production of organic agricultural products, rural tourism, leisure agriculture, and other related industries.

2.2. What is organic agriculture?

Organic agriculture is a typical form of green agricultural production that emerged in Europe and the USA during the 1920 and 1940s. The International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) provides a comprehensive definition of organic agriculture, summarizing its essence and guiding principles (Paull, 2010). Organic agriculture is a food production system that sustains the health of soils, ecosystems, and people. It relies on ecological processes, biodiversity, and cycles adapted to local conditions rather than using inputs with adverse effects. Organic agriculture combines tradition, innovation, and science to benefit the shared environment and promote fair relationships and good quality of life for all involved (Crowder et al., 2010). IFOAM emphasizes and supports the development of local and regional self-support systems and emphasizes specific implementations based on local socioeconomic, geographical, climatic, and cultural backgrounds. The main objectives of developing organic agriculture include the protection of natural resources such as water, soil, and biodiversity, reducing energy consumption and saving nonrenewable resources, producing sufficient safe, high-quality, and healthy products, increasing farmers' incomes and realizing social justice, and promoting sustainable development of rural social economy (Seufert et al.,