Comparative Analysis Of Economic And Environment Of Alfalfa Production In Southern And Northern China

The development of alfalfa industrialization is the focus of promoting the development of the grass industry and the revitalization of the dairy industry.Since alfalfa is a kind of cold-season pasture,the focus of the alfalfa industry has always been focused on the northern region,but there is less research on alfalfa in the southern region,and most of them are concentrated on economic benefits.The environmental impact of alfalfa is basically blank.In Wuhe County,Anhui Province,through land transfer,100,000 mu of highly mechanized and large-scale alfalfa industry has been planted,and now it has become the largest alfalfa production base in southern my country.In the Ar Horqin Banner area of Inner Mongolia,a concentrated,contiguous,high-quality alfalfa base of 1.0995 million acres has been built,and more than 20 companies have been attracted to settle in,develop alfalfa planting,processing,and sales,and enjoy the reputation of"China’s Grass Capital".The industrial production of alfalfa is not only an economic issue,but also an environmental issue.Therefore,through the economic-environmental analysis of these two typical cases of large-scale alfalfa production,we explore the appropriate models of large-scale production of alfalfa in the southern and northern regions.In order to provide a theoretical basis for responding to forage strategy and realizing the transformation of large-scale alfalfa production.In this study,alfalfa input production data of 21 forage production companies in Qiushi Grass Industry in Wuhe County,Anhui and Ar Horqin Banner in Inner Mongolia were investigated on the spot in the past three years（2017-2019）,and the southern and northern alfalfa were analyzed by the cost-benefit method.Under different resource endowments and production modes,the difference between the cost composition and profitability of each ton of alfalfa products produced,and through the life cycle assessment method,using efootprint software,select global warming potential（GWP）,primary energy demand（PED）,environmental acidification potential（AP）,water using（WU）,these four types of environmental impacts,compare the environmental impact contributions of alfalfa from agricultural input,planting,harvesting and transportation under different modes,and find out the hot spots of environmental impact.The research conclusions are as follows:（1）The production cost of southern alfalfa per ton of alfalfa products is 883yuan,and the land cost is the largest production cost.It accounts for 56.81%of the production cost,followed by wrapping,kiln pressing fees and fertilizer input costs which accounted for 11.9%and 10.43%respectively.The production cost of northern alfalfa per ton of alfalfa products is 1474 yuan.Irrigation costs are the largest production cost,accounting for 49.08%,followed by mechanical costs and fertilizer costs,accounting for 13.45%and 11.52%,respectively.Selling 1 ton of alfalfa products,the southern alfalfa sales income is 1,000 yuan,and the profit rate is 13.25%;the northern alfalfa sales revenue is 1,869 yuan,and the profit rate is 22.61%.（2）Southern alfalfa produces 1 ton of alfalfa dry matter on the four types of environmental impact the comprehensive value is 1.11E-02,and the stage that has the greatest impact on the environment is the application of chemical fertilizers and pesticides.Among them,the characteristic values of global warming potential（GWP）,primary energy demand（PED）,environmental acidification potential（AP）,and water using（WU）are 2.09E+02kg CO₂eq,1.67E+03MJ,1.50E+00kg SO₂eq,3.13E+03kg.（3）The comprehensive value of 1 ton of alfalfa dry matter produced by northern alfalfa on the four types of environmental impact is 3.24E-02,and the stage that contributes the most to the environmental impact is the irrigation process.Among them,global warming potential（GWP）,primary energy demand（PED）,environmental acidification potential（AP）,and water using（WU）are 3.56E+02kg CO₂eq,4.00E+03MJ,2.13E+00kg SO₂eq,1.92E-01kg,respectively.（4）When producing 1 ton of alfalfa dry matter as a functional unit,in terms of economic benefits,the production cost of northern alfalfa is 66.9%higher than that of southern alfalfa,and the profit rate is 70.64%higher than that of southern alfalfa,but it is higher than that of the American alfalfa industry.All present the characteristics of high input and low output.In terms of environmental impact,the comprehensive value of the four types of environmental impact of northern alfalfa is 2.13E-02 higher than that of southern alfalfa.The main contribution is that in the planting stage,the consumption of agricultural materials and energy in the production process of alfalfa in the north is higher than the consumption of alfalfa in the south.Based on the above conclusions,this study puts forward the following production optimization suggestions:For southern alfalfa,encourage the use of wheat（fruit）forest intercropping and rice（rape）crop rotation,make full use of farmland,spread the rent cost of planting land,enhance soil nitrogen storage capacity,and reduce fertilizer application Dosage;for northern alfalfa,encourage the promotion of water-fertilizer irrigation mode,save resource consumption during irrigation,strengthen the research and development of alfalfa varieties that are resistant to drought and cold,improve alfalfa overwintering ability,and reduce water pressure.