The government work report proposed advancing rural environmental governance and continuing to improve rural production and living conditions. Wang Gang, a member of the National Committee of the CPPCC and Vice Chairman of the Hebei Provincial CPPCC attending the Fifth Session of the Eleventh National Committee of the CPPCC, said in an interview that while living standards are improving, farmers' ability to pay for resource consumption has also greatly increased, further intensifying resource and environmental pressure in vast rural areas.
He suggested changing production and lifestyle patterns to alleviate resource and environmental pressure and achieve sustainable rural development. "The most prominent environmental issue in current rural areas is the pollution problem from production and household waste." Wang Gang analyzed that the total use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides has been increasing year after year, while the average utilization rate is only 20%-30%. Traditional and backward agricultural irrigation methods exacerbate water resource shortages.
Moreover, the separation of crop farming and livestock breeding leads to approximately 700 million tons of crop straw being discarded or burned annually, and about 1.8 billion tons of livestock manure going untreated and not scientifically utilized. Increasing amounts of production and domestic waste have caused serious garbage-surrounding-village problems. "Low carbon agriculture should be vigorously developed to alleviate rural environmental pressure." Wang Gang called for supporting and guiding enterprises to increase R&D investment in low carbon agriculture technologies, encouraging research and development and promotion of technologies related to clean agricultural production, comprehensive utilization of agricultural waste, and other relevant technologies, actively advancing low carbon agriculture with priorities and targets.
Rationally develop and intensively and efficiently utilize agricultural resources, emphasize agricultural product quality and safety, vigorously promote biological, physical, and agricultural comprehensive pest control technologies, soil testing and formula fertilization and balanced fertilization technologies, and promote agricultural standardized production. Actively research and develop low carbon agriculture technologies, strengthen crop breeding research, promote slow-release long-acting fertilizers, strengthen research and development on biological control and biological product pest resistance, forming a low carbon agriculture scientific and technological support system. Vigorously promote water-saving irrigation technologies such as sprinkler irrigation, micro-sprinkler irrigation, and drip irrigation, eliminating flood irrigation.
Wang Gang also suggested vigorously promoting straw and other biomass pyrolysis energy and biogas energy, strengthening agricultural waste recycling, focusing on promoting the development and utilization of crop straw, livestock manure, and agricultural product processing waste. At the same time, quickly formulate relevant regulations for rural garbage harmless treatment management, establish special funds for rural environmental sanitation, and promote rural garbage on-site classified treatment.
