A Study On Non-Point Source Pollution Of Livestock Husbandry In China

Pollution of livestock husbandry is a major source of Agricultural non-point source pollution. With the rapid development of China’s livestock industry, the problem of pollution is getting worse, and continues to deteriorate in the future. This is the conflict between development of livestock industry and environmental restrictions, and it is the concrete embodiment of the contradiction between economic development and environmental protection. So how to realize a equilibrium between stable growth in livestock husbandry and harmonious ecological environment, to ensure the sustainable development of livestock industry, should be concerned as the basic job both inside and outside the industry in a fairly long period of time.Most literatures on economy growth and environmental quality focus on the environmental Kuznetz-curve (EKC). According to the original hypothesis of EKC, the quality of environment won’t improve with the economy growth until transformation of economic structure (Crossman & Krueger,1992), scientific and technological progress (Selden & Song,1994), international trade (Lopez,1994), environmental luxury (Mc Connel,1997) and implication of environment-friendly policy(Torras-Boyce,1998), which are induced by the booming economy. The question is if there is a inverse-U relation between economic development and livestock husbandry in China. And if exists, what is the mechanism, especially under the situation of geographical imbalance in China’s economic development? Though answering these questions, we can grasp the status and characteristics of China’s livestock husbandry on the macro level, and take correct choice of macroeconomic regulation and policy instrument to make sure the sustainable development of livestock industry.To solve the problem associated with economic development, there can be seen often the government put into prevention work. Pearce and Palmer (2001) found that the governments from OECD countries had gradually raised public expenditure on prevention as economic growth. Some empirical EKC literatures have proposed the establishment of the reason that may come from the luxury features of environmental goods, making the process of economic growth with rapid increase in expenditure on environment protection and control, and decrease in pollution step by step (Seldon and Song,1994, Antle and Heidebrink,1995, Komen et al,1997). As most production units in China’s livestock industry are breeding farmers, they should become the basic ground of our research. The choices they choose to treat the waste will determine the effectiveness of livestock husbandry non-point source of pollution control. Figure out the relation between farmers behavior and livestock husbandry non-point source of pollution, and then restrict the behavior through a set of policy, is the fundamental way to reduce non-point source pollution intensity of livestock husbandry.Therefore, this paper take the mechanism of EKC as logical origin, using nutrition balance of Truog to calculate the sum of livestock industry pollution, to analyze theoretically the ground of livestock non-point source pollution and EKC and empirically state the features of EKC in China, while try to use behavior theory to investigate the breeding farmers’cognition and wish to waste treatment, in order to propose a systematic framework for livestock non-point source pollution control in China.Through the combination of normative research and empirical research, the major content of this paper are arranged as follows:Chapter 1: Introduction. Study background, put forward the issue, objectives & hypothesis, data resources, research methods and framework, Research Innovations and deficiencies.Chapter 2:Definitions and summaries. Define the major concepts in the research and review and sort out literatures from domestic and international.Chapter 3:theory basis and analyzed framework. Based on the summaries of relative theories, put forward the theoretical framework, including estimating model of nitrogen surplus according to the nutrition balance by Truog, EKC which tests the relation between livestock non-point source pollution and economic growth, as well as income elasticity of demand to environmental quality and policy choice of identical local government. Furthermore, establish the decision-making model of farmers’waste control according to the transmission mechanism from government environmental policy.Chapter 4:analysis the current situation of livestock husbandry non-point source pollution in China, estimation of EKC. Based on the analysis of status quo of livestock industry development in China, introduce the categories of livestock industry non-point source pollution, estimate the emission of livestock waste recent years by using the formula for calculating the amount of manure, and then describe the sum and region distribution of nitrogen surplus quantity. According to the inverse-U shape of economic growth and environmental pollution curve, test the EKC of livestock husbandry non-point source pollution through panel data, and calculate the theoretical turning point.Chapter 5:study on cognition of livestock pollution by different farmers. Test whether farmers with different scale and productive characteristics have diversity in pollution cognition through crosstabs andχ2 tests.Chapter 7:factors which will influence the wish of the livestock and poultry manure harmless treatment on different types of farmers. According to the surveys, establish the empirical analysis on pig breeding farmers’wishes to do the harmless treatment through binary-logit model.Chapter 7:factors which will influence the action of the livestock and poultry manure treatment on different types of farmers. After summarizing the existed treating methods in survey region, sort the methods by regulations from State Environmental Protection Administration and local governments. Establish the empirical analysis on pig breeding farmers’actions to do the manure treatment by ordered-logit model.Chapter 8:conclusions and policy recommendations. Based on the summary of the paper, relevant policy recommendations are made.The conclusions of this paper are as follows:1. The amount of livestock husbandry manure has rapidly grown and made serious pollution. Calculate the wastage rate of 30% by 2007, only the loss of the national livestock and poultry manure into water bodies of COD (chemical oxygen demand) that an indicator reached 1784.2215 million tons, far exceeding the 2007 national emission of industrial waste water chemical oxygen demand emissions of 5.1106 million tons and the national sewage discharge of chemical oxygen demand emissions of 8.70753 million tons, even more than the sum of 13.81813 million tons of both. According to Truog nutrition balance theory, calculation results also show that in 2007 the country’s total nitrogen surplus has reached 29.1185 million tons. The national results show that livestock husbandry waste continued to grow in developing regions while began to decline in developed regions.2. The result of EKC of livestock husbandry non-point source pollution shows that there is a significant inverse-U relation between nitrogen surplus emission per capital and GDP per capital, and the turning point is at 12639 yuan(1990 constant prices) of GDP per capital. From the point of national average view, GDP per capital in 2007 is 8561.171yuan, far lower than the turning point. The result told us harm caused by livestock husbandry non-point source pollution will remain in a quite period of time, and we must choose the equilibrium between economic growth and livestock industry emission.3. This paper tests the theoretical basis of EKC:the income elasticity of demand to environmental quality is positive, furthermore, gives the reason to explain the diversity of regions. At the same time, the paper analyzes the static game between government and breeding farmers. Then, the paper had come to some conclusions:firstly, whether the government takes regulations or to what extent to implicate the regulations influence the breeding farmers’ decisions on manure treatment. Secondly, if government takes responsibilities of negligence, the regulations would affect positive, especially not only improve the possibility of treatment, but also the regulation duty. According to this, with income growth, the demand for environmental quality would increase, and the government has to take the responsibility. Under this condition, developed regions are more possible to implicate regulations than developing regions, and improve the environmental quality. It also support the diversity of region in EKC.4. Crosstabs and χ2 tests all show that education and scale appear to have significant relation with livestock pollution cognition. Farmers from different regions have common sense on ugly smell and dirty water, but they have no idea about Soil and water eutrophication caused by nitrogen and phosphor surplus.The results of binary-logit model show that scale, cognition of pollution, attitude, subsidies have significant influence on possibility of wish to manure harmless treatment. Economic level, natural resources, social and cultural environment vary in different regions, and these differences would influent the wish to manure harmless treatment.The results of ordered-logit model show that scale, breeding years, location and subsidies have positive effects on the possibility of treat actions. Cognition of pollution and wish to take actions has positive effect, but cannot pass the statistic tests. These results are consistent with the analysis of theory of planned behavior, as farmers final decisions would be affected by cognition and wish, but there is no definite reason to take the optimal treatment no matter if farmers have the cognition and wish.According to our research, the paper had made some policy recommendations for the end. For example, the implementation of the livestock manure processing technology, financial subsidies plans, strengthen on environmental awareness and education, and further promoting the building of large-scale breeding, moderate imposing the livestock manure treatment.