Why is ecological agriculture so popular? What are the major advantages of ecological agriculture?

Ecological agriculture is a type of environmentally friendly agricultural model that utilizes modern ecological principles and scientific technology to enhance traditional agricultural wisdom.

01
introduction
Ecological agriculture is a modern and efficient agriculture that is established based on ecological and economic principles, using modern scientific and technological achievements, modern management methods, and effective experience from traditional agriculture. It can achieve high economic, ecological, and social benefits. It requires combining the development of grain and various economic crops, the development of field planting and forestry, animal husbandry, sideline and fishery, the development of large-scale agriculture with the secondary and tertiary industries, the use of the essence of traditional agriculture and modern scientific and technological achievements, and the formation of two virtuous cycles of ecology and economy, and the unity of three major benefits of economy, ecology and society through artificial design of ecological engineering, coordinated development and the contradiction between the environment, and resource utilization and protection. With the acceleration of urbanization and rapid development of transportation in China, the development space of ecological agriculture will be further deepened.

02
Development History
Exploration stage: Ecological agriculture initially consisted of individual producers spontaneously producing a certain product in response to local market demand, and these producers formed community organizations or associations. The UK is one of the earliest countries to experiment and produce organic agriculture, which is a component of ecological agriculture.. However, at that time, ecological agriculture overly emphasized traditional agriculture and implemented a self enclosed biological cycle production model, which failed to receive support from the government and the majority of farmers, resulting in extremely slow development. Attention stage: After the 1970s, with the rapid development of industry in some developed countries, environmental degradation caused by pollution has reached unprecedented levels, especially in some countries and regions such as the United States, Europe, and Japan where industrial pollution has directly endangered human life and health. These countries feel the need to take joint action to strengthen environmental protection in order to save the earth that humans rely on for survival, ensure the quality of human life and healthy economic development, thus sparking various alternative agricultural trends that focus on protecting the agricultural ecological environment. The development of ecological agriculture has attracted widespread attention from various countries during this period, and both developing and developed countries believe that ecological agriculture is an important way for sustainable agricultural development. Development stage: After the 1990s, especially since entering the 21st century, the implementation of sustainable development strategies has received a global response, and the status of sustainable agriculture has been established. Ecological agriculture, as a practical model and an important force for sustainable agricultural development, has entered a new era of vigorous development, with qualitative leaps in scale, speed, and level. From a single, scattered, and spontaneous grassroots activity to a global production movement consciously advocated by the government. Most countries have formulated specific policies to encourage the development of ecological agriculture.

03
feature
Comprehensiveness: ecological agriculture emphasizes the overall function of the agricultural ecosystem, takes the big agriculture as the starting point, and according to the principle of "integration, coordination, circulation, and regeneration", comprehensively plans, adjusts and optimizes the agricultural structure, so that the agricultural, forestry, animal husbandry, sideline, and fishery industries and the rural primary, secondary, and tertiary industries can develop in an integrated way, and enable all industries to support each other, complement each other, and improve the diversity of comprehensive production capacity: ecological agriculture, in view of the vast territory of China and the large differences in natural conditions, resource bases, economic and social development levels among regions, fully absorbs the essence of traditional agriculture in China, combines modern science and technology, and equips agricultural production with a variety of ecological models, ecological engineering, and colorful technology types, so that all regions can Both can develop their strengths and circumvent their weaknesses, give full play to regional advantages, Each industry develops in coordination with local conditions according to social needs. Efficiency: Ecological agriculture achieves economic value-added through multi-level comprehensive utilization and series deep processing of material cycle and energy, implements waste resource utilization, reduces agricultural costs, improves efficiency, creates internal employment opportunities for a large number of surplus labor in rural areas, and protects the enthusiasm of farmers to engage in agriculture. Sustainability: Developing ecological agriculture can protect and improve the ecological environment, prevent and control pollution, maintain ecological balance, fix carbon emissions, improve the safety of agricultural products, transform the conventional development of agriculture and rural economy into sustainable development, closely integrate environmental construction with economic development, maximize the satisfaction of people's increasing demand for agricultural products, improve the stability and sustainability of the ecosystem, and enhance the momentum of agricultural development.

04
pattern type
Spatiotemporal structure: This is an agricultural ecosystem that is reasonably constructed based on the biological and ecological characteristics of biological populations and the mutually beneficial symbiotic relationships between organisms. It allows biological populations in different ecological positions to find their own place in the system, complement each other, and fully utilize solar energy, water, and mineral nutrients. It is a three-dimensional structure with multiple sequences in time and multiple levels in space, and its economic and ecological benefits are both excellent. Specifically, there are three-dimensional intercropping models for fruit orchards, farmland, water bodies, and farmer courtyards. Food chain type: This is a virtuous cycle agricultural ecosystem designed according to the laws of energy flow and material circulation in the agricultural ecosystem. The output of one production process in the system is the input of another production process, which enables the waste in the system to be recycled multiple times, thereby improving the energy conversion rate and resource utilization rate, achieving significant economic benefits, and effectively preventing Agricultural Waste from polluting the agricultural ecological environment. There are specific models for material recycling within the planting industry, the breeding industry, and the combination of planting, breeding, and processing. Integrated type: This is an organic combination of spatiotemporal structure type and food chain type, which enables efficient production and multiple utilization of substances in the system. It is a mode type with moderate input, high output, low waste, no pollution, and high efficiency.

05
advantage
The typical characteristics of ecological agriculture are: beautiful agricultural ecological environment, harmonious coexistence between humans and nature, element cycling and regeneration, ecological balance, diverse species, greatly reducing or even eliminating the use of pesticides, fertilizers, antibiotics, and synthetic hormones. Most fertilizers are absorbed by crops rather than polluting the environment. Ecological agriculture has the following nine advantages. Advantage 1: The agricultural ecological environment is protected and there is zero non-point source pollution. Without healthy ecological agriculture, it is impossible to talk about ecological agriculture. Agricultural key pests and weeds are actually normal species in nature that can be disturbed and controlled by physical methods, avoiding chemical methods as much as possible, restoring ecological balance, and minimizing human intervention that does not have a significant impact on yield. This not only saves labor costs but also protects the ecological environment. Ecological agriculture can use a small amount of pesticides, mainly for emergency purposes. A small amount of fertilizer can be used, but the efficiency of fertilizer utilization is high and the amount used is small. According to our previous research, if ecological agriculture is developed, stopping over 90% of pesticides and over 50% of fertilizers currently used will not have a significant impact on yield. Advantage 2: High quality, good taste, minimal or zero pesticide residue. Due to the minimal amount of chemicals used in the early stages and the use of biodegradable or low toxicity pesticides as much as possible, coupled with the natural self purification ability, a large amount of Organic Fertilizer is mainly used. This type of agricultural product has a good taste, similar to the taste of many children born in the 1950s and 1970s. The final product can withstand pesticide residue testing. If multiple pesticide residues are detected in the later stage of agricultural products, it cannot be called ecological agriculture at all. Advantage Three: High economic benefits of land use by units. At present, due to the adoption of extensive chemical methods for farming, although the yield is relatively high, the price is cheap, and sometimes the market is not good and it will rot in the ground, resulting in serious waste of resources. There are two ways to improve economic efficiency: either continue to expand the scale of land, but maintain the same quality and price, making the operators profitable; Either improve product quality, increase prices, and with ecological agriculture not reducing production, the benefits per acre are equivalent to several acres. In this way, it is a good thing for both consumers and producers. The former has purchased reliable food to protect their own and their family's health, while the latter has increased their income and is more willing to invest in high-quality labor on the land. Advantages include the combination of four types of farming, diversified planting, intercropping, and three-dimensional planting. This is the biggest advantage of ecological agriculture. A large amount of fertilizer for ecological agriculture comes from the system itself, and only when the six livestock thrive can the five grains be abundant. On a small amount of land, a large variety of food can be provided. Interplanting leguminous and gramineous plants can directly utilize nitrogen sources in the air, and three-dimensional planting can also be achieved. The food diversity of ecological agriculture is incomparable to other agricultural methods. Rich species diversity leads to stable systems and high risk resistance. According to the author's rough estimate, in the northern region with around a thousand people, there are nearly a hundred types of food that can be provided, while the American agricultural model can only produce one or two types of food within a few hundred or even thousands of square kilometers, either corn or wheat. Don't talk about intercropping, it's just that intercropping cannot be achieved. Their agriculture has no popularity at all, and it's hard to see a single person in tens of square kilometers. Advantage 5: Ecological agriculture has a high yield. The yield of ecological agriculture is not low. Due to the use of land for cultivation, the nutrients taken away are supplemented by organic fertilizers or a small amount of chemical fertilizers. More importantly, due to the low amount of chemicals and abundant soil animals and microorganisms, these organisms indirectly release minerals from the soil for absorption by plant roots. In this mode, if we persist in long-term sampling, the yield will steadily increase. After 9 years of practice, we have successfully transformed low yield fields into high-yield and stable ton grain fields, achieving such results without even using pesticides or fertilizers. Advantage six: comprehensively improve water and nutrient utilization efficiency, save resources, and avoid waste. Due to the respect for the growth laws of animals and plants in ecological agriculture, it is tailored to local conditions and arranged for planting and breeding according to the climatic characteristics of agriculture. The emphasis is on being consistent with natural laws and adhering to the 24 solar terms of agricultural time. This results in high water and nutrient utilization efficiency, as well as the use of livestock and crop residues in rural areas, which increases resource utilization efficiency. To achieve all of this, there must be popularity, and people play a significant role in it. Advantage seven increases animal welfare, making animals happy, less sick, less medicated, and less antibiotic used. Ecological agriculture rejects intensive farming and allows animals to grow in a good ecological environment, as down-to-earth as possible, play with each other and grow happily, which increases animal welfare and reduces or even eliminates the use of veterinary drugs and antibiotics from the source. Chickens raised on grasslands rarely get sick, and they also control grassland pests. Advantage 8: Achieving carbon sequestration in arable land, reversing carbon emissions to carbon absorption. According to our research, under modern agricultural models, 2.7 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent are released per hectare per year, while organic agriculture absorbs a net 8.8 tons of carbon dioxide. This means that reducing the use of fertilizers and increasing organic matter in farmland can bury greenhouse gases underground, which is a byproduct of ecological agriculture. Advantage 9: Ecological agriculture can comprehensively drive farmers' employment. Due to its high quality and high price, coupled with its beautiful ecological environment, it has a strong appeal to urban residents. Agricultural elements can easily become commercial elements, from breeding to planting, from harvesting to processing, from processing to sales, from catering to sightseeing and tourism, from health care to elderly care. Rural areas can be urbanized on site, attracting second-generation farmers, second-generation college students, and even urban elites for employment. In this way, the development of ecological agriculture in 4 million rural areas across the country may become a new economic growth point.

06
Existing problems
1. On the theoretical basis, it is incomplete.

2. The technical system is not perfect enough.

3. The service level and capacity building cannot meet the requirements.

4. There are areas that need to be improved in terms of policies.

5. There are deficiencies in organizational construction