Zhang Ying-jun

Principles and paradigms for developingartificial pastures

The cultivation area and yield of artificial pastures are a symbol reflecting the development level of animal husbandry in a country. In this paper, the critical roles of artificial pastures in safeguarding world’s grain and food security were elaborated, and the present status and future trends in the development of artificial pastures worldwide in general, and in China in particular, were reviewed. The principles, key scientific and technical issues and development paradigms in establishing high-efficiency and sustainable pastures were summarized. Our analyses show that the major trend in the development of artificial pastures worldwide is characterized by diverse and rich genetic resources of forage species, advanced technology and management, highly specialized sectors, close coupling of the cultivation zone and the animal-raising zone, as well as substantial promotion of the government. Because the development of artificial pastures is largely dependent on the status of soil water and frost free period in north China. Therefore, accurate-farming of pastures should be exploited and adopted with great efforts both theoretically and practically to develop highly human-oriented and designed techniques for regulating and interfering pasture cultivation and processing and utilization of forages. Special emphasis should be laid on the regional distribution of cultivation zones, coupling of the cultivation zone and the animal-raising zone, and functional conversion and replacement between croplands and pastures. Based on our decade-long field studies and extension work in the agro-pastoral zone of north China, we put forward three optimized production paradigms for developing artificial pastures and related economic sectors. Finally, we advocate the urgency for formulating a scientifically based national route-map of developing artificial pastures in China.