Targeted campaigns will be launched to curb pollution and animal waste on livestock and poultry farms as well as the excessive use of fertilizers in the horticultural sector in an attempt to bolster the environment in rural areas, the minister of agriculture said. Addressing a news conference on Tuesday, the minister, Han Changfu, said that the ministry will kick off a campaign this year to treat the pollution and waste products from livestock and poultry farms to improve the rural environment. [Special coverage]
All the excrement from large-scale farms will either go through special treatment or be reused as resources, he said.
The excessive use of fertilizers in the horticultural sector, especially fruit and vegetables, will also be targeted and use of organic fertilizers will be encouraged, he said.
More than 40 percent of fertilizers in China are used in the horticultural sector, according to the ministry.
By 2020, the use of fertilizers in the cultivation of fruit, vegetables and tea across the country will be reduced by 50 percent, Han said.
The ministry will also launch a campaign to reduce the use of plastic mulches (mainly used as coverings for compost). Authorities will encourage farmers to use thicker mulch sheets to make them easier to be recycled through machinery, he added.
Livestock and poultry farms produce more than 3 billion metric tons of wastewater each year, according to the ministry.
