The rule should be waste not, want not

Livestock farmers will benefit greatly by making use of the natural nutrients and fertilizers

China's agricultural challenge is huge. The government aims to increase farmers' incomes, make sure there is enough food to feed the population and set up a system that makes efficient use of all resources. At the same time, it has to maintain the quality of the soil and assure safe food production.

In the past 10 years, there has been an enormous move toward producing high-value products. Growth in meat and milk production has been truly impressive. This is a sign of development and should be welcomed, but also creates some new challenges due to the large amount of animal waste generated.

My own country of Denmark has an economy based on producing meat and dairy products, while at the same time trying to protect the environment. Our goal is "cyclic agriculture" that makes use of all waste.

In many countries, all manure is used as fertilizer and applied to crops in order to reduce the use of chemical fertilizers. In China's growing dairy industry, this is done with solid waste but most of the nitrogen in the liquid part is lost. This is harmful because those wastes, which could be nutrients if correctly applied to field crops, are pollutants if they reach valuable water resources. A much better approach is to encourage the use of technology that can use all the manure, including the liquid parts, to fertilize crops. This also improves the quality of the soil.

Chinese agriculture uses much more chemical fertilizer per hectare than other countries, partly because the price of fertilizer is subsidized. This boosts farmers' incomes and productivity in the short term, with terrible consequences for long-term soil health and food safety. However, China's larger farmers are more knowledgeable and use less unnecessary fertilizer than do very small farms.

Chemical fertilizers may boost production for several years, but they make the soil sour and hard for the roots to penetrate. Better collection and use of organic fertilizer will make it possible for more farmers to produce organic products and increase their incomes.

What works in Denmark might not be right for China. It is essential to develop techniques and institutions that are appropriate to China. But it is important to focus on the principles of cyclic agriculture. Sometimes, cyclic techniques need to be subsidized or promoted by regulation since they may seem to be more expensive in the short term, but they are better in the long term both for the environment and for agricultural productivity.

Some entrepreneurs are working to apply these ideas to China's dairy business. For example, in Northeast China's Heilongjiang province, a startup called DanChing Knowhow Farming Tech Ltd has built a demonstration project that collects dairy manure and produces a slurry that can be applied as crop fertilizer. This retains all the nitrogen while using technology appropriate to the local area.

Shen Haimei, the company's managing director, studied agriculture in Denmark. She says local farmers lack the resources, capital, or education needed to be entrepreneurs, but the key to success is for companies to work with farmers' cooperatives. The company can provide capital and technology while ensuring milk safety. At the same time, the farmers keep control of their land. The farmers are also very glad to get a steady monthly income from milk sales.

However, she says many farmers are still somewhat wary and don't want to sign the longer-term contracts or leases needed for capital investment. Policies allow leasing, but up to now it has not been easy in practice. A long-term plan and working with local and provincial governments is the key to change.

Guidance and support from the government with a focus on defining standards and proper costs is essential to making cyclic agriculture work for farmers, for food safety and security, and for the environment.

DanChing is pioneering European manure handling principles based on environmentally sustainable farming practice. With three years of demonstrations, the local government has recognized the feasibility and benefit of the manure utilization. However, it's difficult for a company to live on the payments for recycled nutrients by the crop operators. Now that the policy promoting the use of manure is coming, this doesn't cheer up DanChing. When the understanding and the regulation for environmental interests are missing, the subsidy will go to low cost technology, instead of to the technologies that are sustainable in the long term.

For the success of cyclic agriculture in China, it is important to take a targeted approach. It will need good guidance and support from the government with a focus on defining standards and proper cost. Balancing the benefits and the cost of cyclic agriculture is a challenge for the government.

The author is the chief science officer at Ejlskov, an environmental consultancy headquartered in Aarhus, Denmark. The views on this page do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.