In the Chinese government’s first census on pollution, a two-year study involving 570,000 people, figures have revealed that overuse of pesticides and fertilisers in the country’s agricultural sector were responsible for the majority of pollution in the China’s water.
The newly released government study stated agriculture was responsible for 43.7 per cent of China’s chemical oxygen demand (the main measure of organic compounds in water), 67 per cent of phosphorus and 57 per cent of nitrogen discharges, reported the UK’s Guardian.
While the report’s release was initially delayed because of resistance from China’s agriculture ministry, the ministry has now recognised the environmental impact of the sector.
“Fertilisers and pesticides have played an important role in enhancing productivity but in certain areas improper use has had a grave impact on the environment,” said the ministry’s Wang Yangliang.
“The fast development of livestock breeding and aquaculture has produced a lot of food but they are also major sources of pollution in our lives.”
The widespread pollution has been blamed on the high levels of production needed from the agriculture sector, the government said.
China uses 7 per cent of the world’s land to produce food for 22 per cent of the world’s population. As a result, the country also uses 35 per cent of the world’s nitrogen fertiliser, the Guardian report stated.
The ministry of agriculture announced it would begin programmes to improve the efficiency of pesticide and fertiliser use, expand biogas production from animal wastes and change rural lifestyles to be more environmentally friendly.
