Abstract
Realizing sustainable has become a global priority. This holds, in particular, for agriculture. Recently, the United Nations launched the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the Nineteenth National People's Congress has delivered a national strategy for sustainable in China-realizing development. The overall objective of Agriculture Green Development (AGD) is to coordinate green with development to realize the transformation of current agriculture with high resource consumption and high environmental costs into a agriculture and countryside with high productivity, high resource use efficiency and low environmental impact. This is a formidable task, requiring joint efforts of government, farmers, industry, educators and researchers. The innovative concept for AGD will focus on reconstructing the whole crop-animal production and food production-consumption system, with the emphasis on high thresholds for environmental standards and food quality as well as enhanced human well-being. This paper addresses the significance, challenges, framework, pathways and potential solutions for realizing AGD in China, and highlights the potential changes that will lead to a more sustainable agriculture in the future. Proposals include interdisciplinary innovations, whole food chain improvement and regional solutions. The implementation of AGD in China will provide important implications for the countries in developmental transition, and contribute to global sustainable development.
Highlights
Over the last few decades, the Green Revolution initiated by Norman Borlaug, has saved the lives of millions of people in developing countries and involved the combined use of high-yielding crop varieties, mineral fertilizers, water and agro-chemicals
Facing the great challenge of high resource use and environment cost of the current operation of the food system, leaders of many countries have agreed on a vision to realize sustainable development, for agriculture as an important part of this global movement
The new central collective leadership of China has clearly proposed a national concept of green development, aiming to seek fundamental solutions to the problems associated with agriculture, rural areas and rural people, the so called “Three Rural Issues”
Summary
Over the last few decades, the Green Revolution initiated by Norman Borlaug, has saved the lives of millions of people in developing countries and involved the combined use of high-yielding crop varieties, mineral fertilizers, water and agro-chemicals. China is the largest producer of cereals, cotton, fruit, vegetables, meat, poultry, eggs and fishery products in the world[6] Despite this progress, sustainable agricultural development in China has encountered many obstacles and constraints, including agricultural water shortage, cultivated land loss and soil degradation, low resource use efficiency in the food system (nutrients, water and other inputs) and environmental contamination[7,8,9]. Achieving sustainable intensification and moving toward green development for millions of small household farmers is a great challenge, but it is crucial for China, and could be a key obstacle to putting broad scale green development into practice Both the Chinese government and the public are aware that building an ecological civilization is vital to sustain China’s national development. This is critical for China and other economies in the world with similar issues such as numerous small households, those countries and regions along the Belt and Road Initiative currently being developed, in South-East Asia and Africa
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