Comprehensive utilization of straw is a problem to open up primary, secondary and tertiary industries

This year is the first year for the Ministry of Agriculture to implement the Northeast straw management campaign. The central government allocated 600 million yuan to carry out pilot projects for comprehensive utilization of straw in 60 main producing counties in Northeast China, and strive to achieve comprehensive utilization of straw in Northeast China by 2020. Reach over 80%, and increase the straw utilization capacity by more than 27 million tons. How to establish a long-term mechanism for the comprehensive utilization of straw resources to not only solve environmental problems, but also benefit farmers? The reporter interviewed relevant farmers and experts

At the current Heilongjiang Nongken Jiangchuan Farm, the rice harvester and the straw baler are perfectly connected on the field, and the autumn harvest is busy. The two-stage rice harvesting technology promoted by the farm provides the basis for straw baling. After the mature rice is mechanically cut off the stalks, it is laid flat on the rice stubble, and dried naturally. After the rice grains are harvested, the stalks also reach the packaging standard early, and one piece is dried, one batch is packaged, and one batch is transported. According to Li Guofeng, the director of Jiangchuan Farm, the farm dispatches more than 40 sets of straw baling machinery every day to bale at a rate of more than 700 hectares a day, and transfer them in time.

The picture shows the rice straw recycling site of Heilongjiang Nongken Jiangchuan Farm. The two-stage rice harvesting technology promoted by the farm provides the basis for straw baling. These baled straws will be delivered to the local Heilongjiang branch of Quanlin Paper, which can be used for power generation, papermaking, and heating. Photo by Economic Daily reporter Qiao Jinliang

Looking at the Northeast from the Stalks of the Country

The four northeastern provinces are my country's large granaries, and the total amount of straw is also large. At present, the comprehensive utilization rate of straw in Northeast China is low, the reason is that it is difficult to return to the field, and the other is the imperfect collection, storage and transportation system.

The products of crop photosynthesis are half in the seeds and half in the stalks. This sentence in the textbook has special significance for the Northeast region. The four northeastern provinces are my country's large granaries. The amount of grain transferred out accounts for one-third of the country's total. At the same time, the total amount of straw is also large. The average amount of straw per household is more than three times the national average. It is not an exaggeration to say that the straw problem in Northeast China has been solved, and the comprehensive utilization of straw throughout the country has also taken a big step. At the same time, due to long-term high-intensity and overload utilization, the organic matter content of the cultivated land in the black soil area of Northeast China has declined. Promoting the utilization of straw in the northeast will help promote the combination of land use and cultivation, and protect the black land.

However, the reality is that the current comprehensive utilization rate of straw in Northeast China is still low, and there is a long way to go to achieve the goal of comprehensive utilization of straw. Wu Xinghong, a researcher at the Jilin Academy of Agricultural Sciences, has long been concerned about the use of straw. He introduced that the Northeast region is my country's largest corn production area. The annual harvestable corn stalk output exceeds 110 million tons, accounting for about 44.5% of the country's corn stalk resources. At present, the total utilization rate of its corn stalks is less than 50%, and the remaining 50% is discarded or incinerated.

In an interview in Shuangcheng District, Harbin, Heilongjiang, the person in charge of the local agricultural department told reporters that straw utilization is still in its infancy. On the one hand, the direct benefit of straw utilization is not high. It costs 60 yuan for one mu of straw for baling, and about 100 yuan for burial and raking operations. It is difficult for farmers to invest continuously, and the efficiency of corn in recent years is not good. If there is no inclusive benefit Sexual subsidies are difficult to mobilize farmers' enthusiasm. On the other hand, there are only more than 30 straw turning and burial machines in the entire district, with an operating capacity of 20 mu per hour, and it can only complete 60,000 mu when operating at full capacity during one operation period. In addition, the number of straw returning machines, balers, and no-tillage planters is also seriously insufficient, and many cooperatives can only use modified simple machines.

The situation in Shuangcheng District is not an isolated case. So, why is the straw utilization level in Northeast China significantly lower than the national average? According to Zhang Taolin, Deputy Minister of Agriculture: First, it is difficult to return fields. It usually takes only more than half a month to freeze the soil after corn harvest in Northeast China. The special climatic conditions make it difficult to return the straw to the field and slow to decompose. In addition, there is a lack of low-temperature and rapid decomposing fungi in cold areas and special supporting equipment such as high-horsepower tractors and turning plows. , Further increasing the difficulty of returning to the field. The second is the imperfect collection, storage and transportation system. At present, the collection, storage and transportation service system is still in its infancy, and the development of service organizations such as brokers and cooperatives is lagging behind, making it difficult to leave the field. Compared with other major grain-producing provinces, the northeast is sparsely populated, which increases the transportation radius and cost of straw from the field. The phenomenon of stalks not being collected, receipts but no storage, and storage difficult to transport is common.

Three ways to find the way

To promote straw treatment, it is necessary to clarify the three directions of fertilizer, feed and energy. It is necessary to handle the relationship between the main agricultural use and the multiple use

The collection, storage and transportation of straw is only the first step, and the key is to make a fuss about the way of utilization. Wang Jiuchen, deputy director of the Agricultural Ecology General Station of the Ministry of Agriculture, said that the comprehensive utilization of straw in my country can be summarized into five categories: fertilizer, feed, energy, base material, and raw material, each of which requires the support of science and technology. The reporter learned from an interview in the Northeast that many good practices have been explored in various places, focusing on the three aspects of feed, fertilizer, and energy.

Keyouqianqi in Inner Mongolia is a large animal husbandry county. The total number of livestock in the whole banner is about 4.47 million each year, and the use of straw is cleverly realized. ; The whole banner recycles 1.1 million tons of straw every year, with a recovery rate of over 90%. Among them, the utilization rate of straw converted into feed reaches 64%, which is equivalent to saving 140,000 tons of feed grain. Liu Wenming, director of the Banner Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Bureau, said that taking a mutton sheep as an example, the cost of feeding silage in the house has dropped from 2 yuan per day to 0.5 yuan per day, and the cost has dropped by 75%, which has driven farmers and herdsmen to change the way of raising grass-fed livestock. The 700,000 tons of straw fodder stored last year can reduce the pressure on natural grassland grazing for 2 million sheep units.

The total annual output of straw in Shuangcheng District, Harbin City, Heilongjiang is over 2.9 million tons, of which corn straw accounts for 90%. Last year, the district was identified as a national pilot county for comprehensive utilization of straw, and it has made efforts to use fertilizers. The local key support cooperatives are based on the actual amount of straw collected, stored and used, and subsidies are provided for the collection, storage, and transportation of straw. At present, there are 85 cooperatives in the district participating in the utilization of straw and fertilizer, and the utilization of fertilizer accounts for 54%. Correspondingly, 35 green standardized production bases for vegetables have been built in the district, all using organic fertilizers made from straws and other composts. The base vegetables meet the A-level green food standards, and the average benefit per mu is more than 2,000 yuan.

Yushu City, Jilin Province, is the country's largest grain-producing county. Facing the huge annual output of straw, Yushu focuses on the utilization of straw for energy. In the past three years, energy utilization has increased by an average of 5 percentage points per year. The local area has opened up green channels for straw transportation vehicles, and all toll stations are free to pass; the electricity price of straw processing enterprises has been changed from the original tiered electricity price to the agricultural electricity price. Integrate 56.5 million yuan of provincial, municipal and county-level funds to provide subsidies and support for energy utilization. The original single subsidy for enterprises has been expanded to six subsidies for straw storage sites and biomass boilers. The maximum subsidy amount is 70%. The class body is lightly packed.

Zhang Taolin said that to promote the treatment of straw in Northeast China, three major directions must be clarified: fertilizer, feed and energy. It is necessary to deal with the relationship between the main agricultural use and the multiple utilization. It is necessary to take the road of agricultural use through direct return of straw or return to the field through the belly. It is also necessary to adjust measures to local conditions and rationally guide the use of straw to energy and raw materials. Promote the development of straws in the direction of agriculture-based and diversified utilization. Ensure that by 2020, the comprehensive utilization rate of straw will reach more than 80%, and the phenomenon of open burning will be significantly reduced.

Policy support breaks pain points

The problem of solving the straw problem lies in agriculture, but the way out is widely distributed in the primary, secondary and tertiary industries. Therefore, the comprehensive utilization of straw is a problem of opening up the primary, secondary and tertiary industries, and requires comprehensive support from industrial policies that are more suitable for development needs.

At the beginning of this year, the four provinces of Northeast China Academy of Agricultural Sciences and the Academy of Agricultural Reclamation Sciences established; the Northeast Region Corn Stalk Comprehensive Utilization Collaborative Innovation Alliance was formed; the group army’s research and development model aimed at key technologies such as deep turning of corn stalks into the field and rapid rot in cold areas. Carry out joint research and promote the development of comprehensive utilization of straw. Zhu Lizhi, a researcher at the Research Office of Resources and Environmental Economics of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, said that with collaborative innovation and exploration, many technologies for comprehensive utilization of straw have matured one after another. The key is to popularize and industrialize them. It is necessary to use straw as a link to organically link straw collection with ecological planting and stalk energy conversion to strengthen the chain of agricultural circular economy.

In response to the above pain points, in 2016, the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Finance integrated a fund of 1 billion yuan to select 10 provinces where the problem of crop straw burning is more prominent to adopt a county-wide approach to carry out comprehensive straw utilization pilot projects. In 2017, the number of pilot counties in the northeastern region will be expanded to 60, and 20 counties with good industrial foundations will be selected as a priority, pilot subsidies will be concentrated, and rolling support will be provided for 4 consecutive years to form a representative model of comprehensive straw utilization in the region.

Taking the use of straw as fertilizer as an example, the direct return of straw to the field, the refilling of manure, and the production of commercial organic fertilizer are all means. Wang Jiuchen said that many places have made some progress in the production of fertilizer from straw. The use of subsidies to support and guide cooperatives to develop green organic food has increased the efficiency of fertilizer production from straw, but long-term advancement depends on the marketization of organic fertilizer companies, farmers and cooperatives. It is recommended to introduce policies on straw fertilization land, organic fertilizer enterprise construction and development of organic recycling agriculture, so that it can form an industrial development chain and establish a long-term mechanism for straw fertilizer utilization.

The reporter learned that the current policies for comprehensive utilization of straw mainly focus on the prohibition of straw burning, air pollution control, subsidies for the purchase of agricultural machinery, biomass power generation, etc. Most of them are set up for a certain link and lack systematic support for the entire industry chain. It is necessary to form a systematic and supporting policy system in terms of subsidies for returning straw to the field, collection, storage and transportation, processing and utilization. In addition, although the Ministry of Agriculture and the National Development and Reform Commission have issued some policies on land, electricity, fiscal and taxation in recent years, there are still difficulties in implementing them in various places, which affects the use of social capital investment stalks.

Experts say that solving the straw problem lies in agriculture, but the way out is widely distributed in the primary, secondary and tertiary industries. Therefore, the comprehensive utilization of straw is a problem of opening up the primary, secondary and tertiary industries, and requires comprehensive support from industrial policies that are more suitable for development needs. The utilization of crop straw can be listed as a strategic emerging industry to position, and in terms of industrial policies, key support and support should be given; at the same time, based on different types of agricultural regions, a technical support system should be established according to local conditions.