Abstract
Agricultural practices in Jiangnan water towns have historically been identified as maintaining a balance between human activity and the local environment, but are now a significant local source of water pollution. Using a multi-methods approach, this study deduces the environmental impact of traditional practices, and the socially desired conditions for successfully reintroducing critical ones. Oral histories from 31 farmers in Tianshanzhuang village, South Yangtze River were in order to chart changes in farming practices over four historic periods, and used to estimate the nitrogen and phosphorus burdens per acre. Findings show that the use of Lan River Mud—dredged mud for fertilizer—was key in producing a positive impact, but abandoned after the 1980s. Four criteria hindering reintroduction of traditional practices were identified, and potentially useful but fragmented emerging local candidate practices are considered against these, as are recent practices in Japan. We propose that the cooperation of several stakeholders with various related government departments in China could lead to a portfolio of effective policy changes and should be studied further: to include new methods and uses of Lan River Mud; the integration of aquaculture, leisure and tourism industries with agriculture; and the production of organic produce with well-planned internet-linked sales, delivery and coordination mechanisms.
Highlights
Traditional Chinese agricultural practices have attracted increasing attention due to their historically high yields and their positive contributions to local environments, namely in terms of ecological biodiversity [1,2,3]
In order to address these questions, we examine the case of Tianshanzhuang village, an agricultural town in the South Yangtze River delta, using an oral history approach to generate data for analysing the environmental impact of farming practices in recent Chinese history over 100 years, from the Pre-Liberation period to the Open and Reform period
According to the data available from oral histories, and the fact that eutrophication has been one of the main local environmental challenges since 1980s [46], we focused on the Eutrophication Potential (EP) and the Acidification Potential (AP) assessment, which were mainly caused by the changing of fertilizer use across the past 100 years (Figure 2)
Summary
Traditional Chinese agricultural practices have attracted increasing attention due to their historically high yields and their positive contributions to local environments, namely in terms of ecological biodiversity [1,2,3]. Other works have examined specific impacts of practices such as circular farming and dredging of river mud with regard to the accumulation of organic materials in soil, the conservation of water resources and contribution to the adjustment of air composition [5,6,7,8]. Farmers’ deep understanding of soils and local water resources allowed them to achieve high yields without damaging the health of the land or exceeding its production capacity [9]. Important was the balance between practical “know-how” and the ability to incorporate new, external knowledge to inform farming practices which has been passed from generation to generation [10]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
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 callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
