Spring plowing preparations have started.

This year's Central Document No. 1 proposes——

Make every effort to do a good job in food production, and strictly prevent "cutting the green and destroying the grain" (What signals are sent by the new formulation of the "No. 1 Document" ③)

　　Our reporter Liao Ruiling

　　Soil loosening, sowing, and fertilization... It is the season of spring plowing and preparations. Farmers in many places across the country seize the farming season, and spring wheat planting is carried out in an orderly manner, and the farmland is busy.

　　Focusing on grain production, this year's No. 1 Central Document clearly prevents "cutting green and destroying grain".

This is the first "strict prevention" proposed in the No. 1 central document in the field of grain production since this century, and it is of great significance.

　　What is the impact of "cutting the green and destroying the grain"?

How does it relate to people's dietary life?

Listen to what experts in the agricultural field say——

red line

Escort to ensure food security

　　From May every year, the wheat planted by farmers has come to maturity one after another.

From south to north, the country's wheat harvesting work is in full swing, laying the foundation for a bumper grain harvest throughout the year.

　　However, in mid-May last year, seeing that the wheat in the North China Plain was about to mature, there was news of "cutting green wheat for fodder" in Henan, Anhui and other places: some farmers harvested immature wheat in advance and sold it as silage to feed business.

　　"It is not uncommon to use wheat as silage, and it is also available in normal years, but due to factors such as wheat biomass and planting costs, it is generally not used as a raw material for silage, and the demand for silage wheat is very small." Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Research, Shandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences Researcher Zhao Hongbo told our reporter.

　　"It's not cost-effective to make wheat into silage." Cao Hui, a researcher at the Rural Economic Research Center of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, calculated the accounts: From the perspective of farm operators, the wheat in most areas has just begun to fill in early May, and the nutritional value Not high. The purchase price of 1,500 yuan per mu reported on the Internet last year was on the high side; from the standpoint of farmers, based on the calculation of wheat grain yield of 1,000 to 1,200 catties per mu, the wheat purchase price of flour companies last year was about 1.6 yuan per catty, and the industry’s new wheat purchases The price is about 1.5 yuan per catty, and the income per mu of grain wheat is equivalent to or even higher than that of silage wheat.

Normally, farmers have no incentive to sell silage wheat.

　　So, why did the situation of "cutting green wheat for feed" appear in some areas last year?

　　"Mainly due to factors such as autumn floods and pests and diseases in the previous year, some dairy farms have insufficient silage. However, there are few alternative products for silage, and the price of limited supplementary products is high, so some companies choose to use silage wheat as a supplement." Cao Hui said .

For individual farmers with poor wheat fields and low expected yields, it seems safer to cut the green wheat and turn it into silage for sale, so the situation of cutting green wheat in advance appears.

　　"Although this is an isolated phenomenon, it also reflects the trend that the boundary between domestic rations and feed grains is 'punctured'. If it cannot be effectively controlled, it will bring hidden dangers to the safety of rations in our country." Cao Hui analyzed.

　　It is understandable that farmers choose silage wheat as feed supplement due to the income from growing grain and the feed merchants are busy feeding "emergency".

But the act of blindly "cutting the green and destroying the grain" must be stopped.

"It is necessary to strictly prevent violations of laws and regulations that undermine food safety, especially the conversion of cultivated land to construction land and the destruction of wheat to start construction. Strong support should be given to professional silage that is really used for the development of animal husbandry." Zhao Hongbo said.

　　This year's No. 1 Central Document proposes to "make every effort to do a good job in grain production" and "strictly prevent 'cutting and destroying grain'".

Jiang Heping, a professor at the Institute of Agricultural Economics and Development of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, told our reporter that this is the first "strict prevention" proposed in the No. 1 Central Document in the field of grain production since the beginning of this century. Food behavior violates laws and regulations.

　　"Although my country's grain production has achieved '19 consecutive harvests', it does not mean that we can sit back and relax. Domestic grain production and demand will remain in a tight balance for a long time in the future. Wheat is the staple food of the Chinese people and must be opposed and stopped. The phenomenon of blindly harvesting and making silage. The No. 1 document of the central government proposes to strictly prevent "cutting green and destroying grain", which not only reminds feed manufacturers to make stock plans in advance, but also reflects the country's respect for the hard work of farmers and agricultural science and technology workers." Jiang Heping said.

Focus on pain points

Vigorously develop silage

　　Experts believe that the scope of cutting green wheat for feed last year was small and handled in a timely manner, which had limited impact on ration safety.

However, this also reflects the current domestic animal husbandry feed shortage.

　　With the improvement of people's living standards, the Chinese demand for livestock products, such as meat, poultry, eggs, milk, etc., continues to grow.

According to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics, in 2022, the dietary structure of domestic residents will be further optimized.

China's per capita grain consumption was 136.8 kg, a decrease of 7.8 kg or 5.4% from the previous year; per capita meat consumption was 34.6 kg, an increase of 5%, of which per capita pork consumption increased by 6.7% and per capita beef consumption increased by 2.9%; Per capita egg consumption was 13.5 kg, an increase of 2.4%.

　　"With the transformation and upgrading of the food consumption structure of Chinese residents, people's consumption of traditional grains has declined, and the consumption demand for meat, poultry, eggs, and milk is increasing, which directly expands the demand for feed, and also forces my country to import soybean raw materials for feed. It has been increasing year by year.” Jiang Heping told reporters that at present domestic food consumption accounts for a relatively high proportion. From the perspective of species, the domestic animal production industry mainly uses corn as energy feed and soybean meal as protein feed, forming a preference for corn and imported high-protein soybeans. highly dependent.

"However, there are still some 'stuck neck' problems in the field of domestic protein feed raw material production, such as insufficient comprehensive utilization and diversification of non-grain feed raw materials, low efficiency of existing feed conversion and utilization, and research and development of new feed protein has not yet formed a technology to support the industry ability etc."

　　To meet the changes in people's dietary needs, the key is to strengthen feed supply and continuously increase animal production capacity.

Under such circumstances, this year's Central Document No. 1 proposed "vigorously develop silage", which has aroused widespread concern in the industry.

　　"The country proposes to vigorously develop silage. On the one hand, it is determined by the characteristics of silage itself." Zhao Hongbo told reporters that silage is made of plant-based feed with more moisture through sealing and fermentation, including general silage, semi-dry silage and silage. Additive silage, mainly used to feed ruminants.

This kind of feed can effectively preserve the nutrients in the green plants, improve the palatability of the feed, and is less affected by weather factors. It can also provide green and juicy feed for livestock in winter and spring, thereby improving the production performance of animals.

　　"On the other hand, the development of silage is mainly guided by the construction of a diversified food supply system and the "big food concept". Feed demand, to prevent 'human and animal competition for food'." Zhao Hongbo said.

rich source

Build a diversified food supply system

　　While paying attention to silage, this year's Central Document No. 1 also proposed to build a high-quality, water-saving, high-yield and stable-yield forage production base to accelerate the development of alfalfa and other grass industries.

　　During the interview, a number of experts in the agricultural field said that such a requirement can be described as "prescribing the right medicine" and will effectively promote the rapid development of China's forage industry.

　　"At present, the structure and planting mode of grass products in my country are relatively single. Common forage products on the market are mainly primary products such as grass pellets, grass blocks, straw bales, grass powder, etc., with low use efficiency and added value. Forage harvesting, preparation, processing and other technologies are also relatively backward, so forage grass cannot be effectively developed, and a large amount of high-quality forage grass has to be imported from abroad every year." Jiang Heping said.

　　Take alfalfa as an example. Raising cows for milk requires a lot of forage. As a high-quality roughage for ruminants to obtain protein, alfalfa is regarded by the industry as the "king of grass".

However, the current domestic alfalfa production and quality are far from meeting the needs of farmers.

Data show that in 2021, the national alfalfa output will exceed 4 million tons, while the supply of high-quality alfalfa for cattle is only over 1 million tons.

The domestic supply of alfalfa is still relatively dependent on imports, and the source countries of alfalfa imports include the United States, Spain, Canada, Argentina, etc., among which alfalfa from the United States accounts for the bulk of China's imported alfalfa.

Therefore, this year’s No. 1 Central Document proposes to accelerate the development of alfalfa and other grass industries, which will promote the reduction of import dependence, further help the development of domestic animal husbandry, and then meet people’s dietary needs.

　　Whether it is vigorously developing silage, or accelerating the development of grass industries such as alfalfa, in the No. 1 Central Document, these goals and tasks are placed under the requirements of "building a diversified food supply system".

Tang Renjian, minister of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, said that to ensure food security, we must first stabilize the area, and second, increase production capacity. In addition, we must establish a big food concept, formulate plans by field, accelerate the construction of a diversified food supply system, and enrich the source of food varieties.

　　"The 'big' of the 'big food concept' is to jump out of the traditional concept of 'grain is food', develop food and feed resources in an all-round and multi-channel way, and ensure food safety, nutrition and health on the premise of ensuring the supply of food and feed , in response to changes in the diet structure of the people and the demand for diversified food consumption." Zhao Hongbo said.

　　How to develop food sources in all directions?

Jiang Heping told reporters that to establish a big food concept, we must make full use of rich land resources such as saline-alkali land, sloping land, dry land, and sandy land, and comprehensively implement "grain to feed" in suitable areas across the country, planting alfalfa, silage corn, oats, and pennisetum A variety of herbal and woody high-yield, high-protein, high-quality feed varieties, and build a high-standard high-quality feed production base.

In addition, a large amount of by-products such as corn residue, bagasse, and salted egg white produced by the food industry can be comprehensively utilized to expand feed resources and continuously increase animal production capacity to meet people's dietary needs.

(People's Daily Overseas Edition)