Rice-based crop-animal integrated systems in China.
1995
Congyi Y. | Yixian G.
Crop-animal integrated systems have been an important Chinese heritage and are regarded as a major component of organic agriculture. In recent years, research based on traditional crop and animal science was integrated, then, converged with agroecology to develop into the new field of crop-animal integrated systems research. Up to now, the priorities were rice-based, crop-hog and crop-dairy systems. Research results of crop-animal integrated systems showed that integrating triticale as a forage crop into the rice mono-cropping (in temperate zone), or maize as a silage crop into the barley - rice double cropping (in subtropical zones) provided good forage sources for dairy cattle with no reduction in rice yield. Rice cropping on the upper terraced wetland under insufficient irrigation (in subtropical zone) gave equal yield but higher profit. The maize crop benefited both the hog and dairy production systems through maize grains and stalks. These interventions have been implemented in the production system and have made impact. The methodology also included the assessment of the effectiveness and feasibility of improved technology by marginal benefit over cost index; introduced indices for evaluating systematic productivity, property stability, sustainability, equality, and diversity; monitoring energy use, efficiency and nutrient equilibrium, and analysis based on the input and output of energy and major nutrients. To indicate the resource-food-human status, an expression of human-carrying capacity is formulated. Future research will be directed to sustainable farming systems with emphasis on continuing effort to diversify farming structure for higher profits; rehabilitating organic farming by new ways for higher profits; selection of multipurpose crops which can satisfy the food, feed, fertility, and cash requirements.
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