Abstract
The development of the agricultural economy has brought the agricultural pollution, and agricultural pollution has restrained the growth of the agricultural economy and endangered public health. Since the Economic Reform opened up, China has promulgated many policies that have benefited farmers, developed the agricultural economy, and improved agricultural material levels. However, the growth in the agricultural economy has also resulted in significant environmental pollution from pesticides, agricultural fertilizers and agricultural plastic film. Agricultural pollution can affect public health, therefore it is necessary to study the relationship between agricultural economy and agricultural pollution. In this paper, the relationship between the agricultural economy and agricultural pollution is studied by using decoupling index method, taking Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China as an example, and verified by the data of 2008–2017 years of Chengdu. It was found that the decoupling index for pesticide use and per capita gross agricultural production showed “strong decoupling” ideal states in six years. From 2009–2017, the value of it increased from 0.065743–1.597385, and its decoupling state gradually transited to stable strong decoupling. The chemical fertilizer use was found to have a “strong decoupling” ideal state in five years. The value of it decreased from 1.028854–(−0.512702), while its state gradually changed to strong decoupling. However, agricultural plastic film only has one “strong decoupling” state with its value of decoupling index changed from −0.380824–(−0.250250). The increased use of plastic film has resulted in increased agricultural pollution. The research results show that growing with the development of Chengdu’s agricultural economy, the use of pesticides and fertilizers has been decreasing. Chengdu’s agricultural economy and agricultural pollution were found to have a healthy and coordinated development. The development of agricultural economy has not caused much damage to the agricultural environment. In addition, with the decline of agricultural pollution, public health problems will also be reduced.
Highlights
Agriculture is the foundation of the Chinese national economy as it provides materials for both residents and other industry sectors
The decoupling index for Chengdu from 2009–2012 was found to be in a stable state in terms of pesticide use and per capita gross agricultural production values there was a “strong decoupling” state for three years, which indicated that during this period, the use of pesticides was declining with the economic growth; that is, the increase in the agricultural economy during this period did not result in much agricultural pollution
The pesticide use and per capita gross agricultural production decoupling index was relatively optimistic, with six “strong decoupling” years as the pesticide use was decreasing and the per capita gross agricultural production was increasing in most years, which indirectly indicated that the growth in the agricultural economy had little effect on agricultural pollution
Summary
Agriculture is the foundation of the Chinese national economy as it provides materials for both residents and other industry sectors. As China is a large agricultural country, agriculture is vital to both the Chinese government and the people [1]. Since the Economic Reform and open up in 1978, China’s agricultural economy has achieved great success with most problems that had been associated with insufficient agricultural product supply being solved. In 2017, China’s total grain output reached. 617.91 million tons [2], twice the total grain output of 304.765 million tons in 1978. The measures taken to increase agricultural production have resulted in the excessive use of chemical. Res. Public Health 2019, 16, 4233; doi:10.3390/ijerph16214233 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
