Research and Innovation on the Development of Organic Agriculture in China

In 1990, the tea garden in Dongkeng Village, Lin’an County, Zhejiang Province, won the Dutch SKAL organic food certification, which was the first organic food certification in Chinese Mainland and officially opened the prelude to the development of organic agriculture in China.How has China’s organic agriculture undergone changes over the past 30 years from 1990 to present? What achievements have been made in the research of organic agriculture, what understanding has been formed, and what are its characteristics?Research on the Development of Organic Agriculture in ChinaThe traditional sustainable agricultural planting method in China has a history of over 4000 years. In the mid to late 1950s, China had already started the construction of agricultural modernization and industrialization. In the late 1970s, Academician Ma Shijun, a ecologist, took the lead in proposing to guide and treat China’s agricultural research and practice from the perspective of ecological balance and ecosystem. At the “Academic Symposium on Agricultural Ecological Economy” held in Yinchuan in 1980, Professor Ye Qianji officially proposed the concept of “ecological agriculture”.In the 1980s, research on organic agriculture mainly focused on the following three aspects:One is to continuously pay attention to and discuss the economic, ecological, and social benefits of ecological and organic agriculture;The second is to explore and present the scientific principles of organic agriculture and ecological agriculture planting, such as the editing and publication of Agricultural Ecology;The third is to introduce and learn from overseas organic agriculture, natural agriculture, and ecological agriculture. Although organic food certification in China began in 1990, exploration, practice, and research related to organic agriculture continued throughout the 1980s.The research on organic agriculture in China is closely related to the development of the organic industry, as well as deeply influenced by the setting of national construction issues and social concerns. In 2007, the country clearly proposed the goal of building ecological civilization, and environmental protection has become a highly shared concept among the whole society. With the rapid development of the economy and the continuous increase in per capita disposable income in cities, social anxiety about food safety is also increasing. People are beginning to pay attention to and purchase safe and healthy organic food to avoid food safety risks.Organic agriculture, which is environmentally friendly and sustainable, can ensure the production of safe and healthy food, cultivate biodiversity, reduce or even curb agricultural non-point source pollution; It can also help achieve the goals of national ecological civilization construction and be consistent with the environmental protection concerns of the entire society.Therefore, under the triple influence of national ecological civilization construction, people’s need for safe and healthy food, and social environmental protection, the quantity and quality of research on organic agriculture have rapidly expanded and leapt since 2009.2.jpgBased on the development of organic agriculture industry, the baton effect of national ecological civilization construction, people’s demand for safe food, and social environmental protection concerns, China’s organic agriculture research is divided into the following three periods:(1) Exploration period (1980-1989). Mainly translating and introducing foreign organic agriculture research and practice, proposing the concept of local ecological agriculture, and conducting scientific exploration and research on the operation of agriculture and farmland ecosystems.(2) Starting period (1990-2006). Based on the modern organic agriculture practice initiated by China’s first organic food certification, as well as the promulgation and implementation of national standards for organic food, the exploration of localization practices and knowledge production have begun to be synchronized.(3) Development period (2007 to present). With the development of diversified organic agriculture practices such as natural agriculture, biodynamic agriculture, and enzyme agriculture, the research focus, scope, literature quantity, and research team of organic agriculture are rapidly increasing. In addition to the quantity of research, the quality of research has also begun to receive attention. How to delve deeper into the texture of Chinese society, raise issues with Chinese consciousness, establish a research style and tendency of organic agriculture with local characteristics, and participate in the knowledge production and progress of global organic agriculture research are issues that need to be expanded and improved.Research on Organic Agriculture from the Perspective of BioagricultureFrom a holistic perspective, research in bioagriculture first uses planting comparisons and scientific data to demonstrate the economic and ecological benefits of organic and ecological agriculture planting. Organic aquaculture can effectively reduce the concentration of inorganic nitrogen and phosphorus in aquaculture water, control and reduce agricultural non-point source pollution.At the same time, after soil improvement is completed, the growth, yield, and economic benefits of organically grown vegetables are also higher than those of conventional planting systems. Compared with conventional planting, organic planting has more significant ecological effects in preventing soil erosion, improving soil environment, and increasing biodiversity.01. Research on Organic Planting Patterns and TechnologiesThe basic types of organic agriculture and ecological agriculture planting can be divided into landscape layout mode, ecosystem circulation mode, community three-dimensional mode, population food chain mode, and variety matching mode according to the biological organization level.Among them, the organic agriculture and ecological agriculture model types at the upper level can overlap with the models at the lower levels to form a composite model. There is a lot of research and exploration on the specific techniques of organic planting in biological agriculture. At the same time, in organic agriculture, protective tillage with “less soil movement” and “less exposure” can achieve the functions of soil conservation, fertilization, water-saving, yield increase, and efficiency enhancement. In addition, different fertilizers and fertilization methods can also have different impacts on soil nutrients and microorganisms.02. Exploration of pest control technologyThe organic planting process itself protects certain natural enemies of pests. For example, in organic rice fields, the number of spider species and individuals is more than 4.5 times that of conventional rice ridges, and the number of natural enemy insect species and individuals is more than 1.5 times that of conventional rice ridges. The proportion of spider lice during the entire growth season is lower than that of conventional rice fields.However, the diseases and pests themselves are in the process of dynamic change, and it is still necessary to explore practical new methods of pest control. For example, the combination of the “all-around pest control platform” formed by physical and biological technology and the “rice duck co breeding” model can effectively improve the pest control effect of organic rice.At the same time, grass control is also an important issue in organic cultivation, and methods such as agricultural control, physical and mechanical control, biological control, and ecological control have been developed. However, in terms of pest control technology in organic agriculture, it is not only necessary to treat, but also need to focus on prevention, such as using good varieties, diversified planting and reasonable rotation, microbial balance and other methods to prevent pests and diseases. Diseases and pests themselves are in a dynamic process of change, and response measures also need to be combined with governance and prevention. The characteristics of pests and diseases and their control principles also make the pest control technology in organic planting still in a process of continuous exploration.3.jpg03. Maintenance and Promotion of BiodiversityThe animal species and quantity in organic rice fields were significantly higher than those in conventional rice fields. At the same time, the biodiversity of arthropods, Coleoptera, and Stephanidae in organic farmland is higher than that in conventional farmland; Thus, a relatively balanced (capable of mutually reinforcing) biodiversity system has been formed.There is a viewpoint that maintaining or improving the biodiversity of farmland ecosystems through organic agriculture may be influenced by various factors, such as research sites, climate conditions, field crop types, biota, and specific farmland management measures.Therefore, research on organic planting and biodiversity needs to gradually expand from focusing on planting patterns to different scales or landscape complexity levels, in order to explain the causal process between organic planting and biodiversity at different scales.04. The impact and role of organic planting on soilSoil is the foundation of agricultural cultivation. Compared with conventional planting, organic planting reduces soil volume quality, increases the number of water stable large aggregates in the soil, and enhances the soil’s ability to resist erosion. Under the organic planting method, the soil organic matter content increased by 20% -80% compared to conventional planting, and the nutrient content of alkali hydrolyzed nitrogen, total nitrogen, and total phosphorus significantly increased. The nutrient content of available phosphorus, potassium, and other nutrients increased by 18.52% -53.5%.Meanwhile, compared with conventional planting, organic planting increased soil microbial carbon content by 32.84% and 109.30%, respectively, enhancing soil urease, phosphatase, and catalase activities, enhancing microbial diversity, and significantly increasing the number of fungal and actinomycete colonies compared to conventional planting methods.In addition, there is a significant correlation between the number of soil animals and soil fertility. Under organic cultivation, soil animals were significantly more than those under conventional cultivation, significantly higher than the 748/100g dry soil under conventional cultivation, and the number of bacterial nematodes was also significantly higher than that under conventional cultivation.At the same time, organic cultivation improves the physical structure of the soil, significantly enhancing its water retention, moisture retention, and fertilizer retention abilities. It also has an improvement effect on saline alkali soil, significantly improving soil quality compared to conventional cultivation.05. Exploration of the Scientific Mechanism of Organic PlantingThere has been a significant accumulation of scientific knowledge in the study of organic farming in bioagriculture, but there are still many unknown or unnoticed areas that need to be explored and discovered.For example, organic fertilizer supply regulates the accumulation of antioxidant substances in non heading Chinese cabbage by altering the composition of rhizosphere bacterial communities. Among them, Bacillus subtilis upregulates key genes for phenolic metabolism and synthesis, thereby promoting the accumulation of antioxidant substances in non heading Chinese cabbage. This confirms that Bacillus subtilis has the function of regulating the synthesis of antioxidant substances in non heading Chinese cabbage. This type of research belongs to the fundamental part of organic agricultural bio-agricultural research and has extremely important significance and role in the organic planting process. At present, this type of research is still in the exploratory process.There are two particularly noteworthy controversies in the bio-agricultural research of organic agriculture.Is organic agriculture niche agriculture or mass agriculture? Can organic agriculture support the majority of the population with such low yields?One is about yield. The net monetary income of organic planting is 3.8 times that of the conventional model, and the emergy output rate and system output rate are 1.7 and 7.5 times that of the conventional model, respectively. By investing the same amount of energy, the organic model generates more support and service functions than the conventional model, demonstrating the agricultural characteristics of “low input, high output”. It is generally believed that organic cultivation can produce high-yield, high-quality, and flavorful agricultural products as long as it grasps sufficient carbon sources, nitrogen sources from microbial nitrogen fixation and organic matter degradation, rich mineral elements, and continuously creates stress to activate immunity.The second is about quality. Organic planting increases rice grain width, increases brown rice rate, milled rice rate, and whole milled rice rate, reduces chalkiness (there are also reports of slight decrease in processing quality), increases gel consistency, reduces amylose and protein content, and improves rice taste. Organic cultivated apples have more aroma components, with 13 more components compared to conventional cultivated apples. The relative content of the characteristic aromatic substance hexyl acetate is nearly 10 percentage points higher than that of conventional cultivated apples. The quality of organic grown agricultural products is generally higher than that of conventional grown agricultural products.The third is about comprehensive benefits. Taking the comparison between rice fish symbiotic system and conventional rice farming system as an example. In terms of direct economic income, the net income of the former is 2184 yuan higher than that of the conventional rice farming system per hectare. If the comprehensive benefits of ecology, economy, and society are considered, the ecosystem service value of the rice fish symbiotic system is 7447 yuan higher than that of the conventional rice farming system per hectare, with an average comprehensive value of 9631 yuan higher per hectare. Its input-output ratio and investment profit margin are better than those of the conventional rice farming system. Organic agriculture is superior to conventional agriculture in terms of resource utilization efficiency. With the continuous increase of planting years, the advantages of organic planting in resource utilization gradually emerge. In this regard, organic cultivation as a form of biological agriculture not only has economic benefits, but also has a comprehensive benefit of economic, ecological, and social factors combined.4.jpgIs organic agriculture adapting and improving or exacerbating climate change?The carbon pool in agricultural ecosystems is the most active part of the global carbon pool. Compared to conventional agriculture, organic agriculture is a low-carbon agriculture. The planting methods of organic fertilizers and circular agriculture can improve soil organic matter, promote the formation of soil particle structure, increase carbon storage in the soil, have stronger adaptability to extreme climates, and reduce carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere.Therefore, the mechanisms and functions of organic agriculture in energy conservation, emission reduction, and soil carbon sequestration are of great help to China’s emission reduction and carbon sequestration. The International Organization for the Organic Agriculture Movement explicitly declared earlier that organic agriculture can help control global climate change.On the contrary, a paper published in the internationally renowned scientific journal Nature argues that organic agriculture requires larger planting areas, leading to more carbon emissions. Therefore, it does not help control climate change, but exacerbates it.However, whether organic agriculture has adapted to and improved climate change or exacerbated climate change requires a return to its own perspective. If organic agriculture approaches conventional agriculture in terms of yield per unit area, the view will be reversed. At the same time, organic agriculture is also a developing industry that is in a state of change and requires more research to validate this debate.Research on Organic Agriculture from the Perspective of Social Agronomy01. Organic Agriculture and Traditional AgricultureChinese traditional agriculture, also known as traditional organic agriculture, contains rich ecological farming ideas, such as material recycling, ecological fertilization, and mastering and utilizing species relationships. In terms of philosophy and ecological view, Chinese traditional agriculture is based on the holism natural view of the unity of nature and man, and forms an agricultural planting model with sustainable circulation as the main feature.Although the origin of global organic agriculture was inspired by traditional Chinese agriculture and absorbed numerous traditional Chinese farming experiences, there are differences between organic agriculture and traditional Chinese agriculture in terms of different historical backgrounds, scientific foundations, and production conditions. When modern organic agriculture utilizes traditional agricultural practices, how to distinguish and select has become a problem. Strict screening of traditional agricultural practices and in-depth mechanism research are important ways for modern organic agriculture and ecological agriculture to utilize and develop traditional agricultural practices.In addition, there are rich traditional agricultural cultivation techniques and ideas in contemporary agricultural cultural heritage, including organic fertilizer accumulation, land use and cultivation combination, and biological control. Therefore, it is necessary to promote the development of organic agriculture on the basis of protecting the living agricultural cultural heritage.