Research On The Ecological Agricultural Mode Of Tai Lake Area In The Ming And Qing Dynasties

In the recent years, "ecological agriculture" has become a hot issue on sustainable agriculture. The traditional agriculture in China has a lot of ecological ideas It is necessary to understand Chinese traditional agriculture before studying eco-agriculture. As early as the Ming and Qing dynasties, the area of Tai Lake, one of the most developed regions in industries, agriculture and socio-economy in Chinese history, has originally appeared an embryo of the ecological agriculture. Therefore, the studying of the ecological agricultural mode of this region is of great significance for the modern eco-agriculture construction.Plains, water, hills and mountainous are the main terrain forms of Tai Lake area. The ecological mode could obviously be seen in the plain and water areas. So, firstly, this article introduced the nature condition of Tai Lake region, also including the producing condition especially in the plains and water area. Secondly, it analyses the characteristics of the development of agriculture in the Tai Lake region which focuses on the plain and water. They also had certain impact of the agricultural ecology. The tenancy relations, the relationship between population and arable land and the development of commodity economy during the Ming and Qing Dynasties of Tai Lake region also promoted the formation of ecological agriculture.The ecological agricultural mode in Tai Lake area showed four aspects: the crop planting, animal breeding, mulberry-base-pond and comprehensive management. The ecological cultivation of crops were mainly embodied in the applications of rice-wheat rotation, cotton and grain multiple cropping and green manure in agricultural production. This pattern of crop production increased the rates of land utilization and output, but it needed to make up for the soil fertility exhaustion. Our ancestors lived in the Tai Lake area used to ease the pressure of the land production through the combination of utilization and maintenance of land. The ecological mode of animal breeding mainly included the raising of pigs, sheep, fish and rice-fish system. The purpose of raising pigs and sheep in Tai Lake area was to obtain fertilizer to promote crops production. The purpose of rice-fish system was not only to obtain fish, but also to add fertilizer, eradicate pests and loosen up the soil. Mulberry-base-pond, a special dike-pond mode, was a kind of management integrated fish ponds with breeding of mulberry silkworm. It was a pattern of agricultural production with obvious regional features, which was created from the moist lowlands that were unsuitable for cropping production. Mulberry-base-pond had many advantages, such as digging pond to keep up the fertility of dike, breeding fish in pond, mulberry and grass cultivation on dikes, sericulture with mulberry, feeding fish with silkworm excrement and grass, providing mulberry with fertilizers from fish manure and pond sludge. So an ecological agriculture system was formed with reasonable, efficient and stable characters. This integrated management mode was a sort of ecological agriculture based on the local, natural and economic conditions, which mainly crops and breeds silkworms and perfectly combines cropping, fish with breeding silkworms and livestock. In this mode, animal and plant production and the recycling of organic waste were expanded from the field to water. The recycling and utilizing of waste and natural resources became the most prominent features in the integrated management mode.The ecological agriculture in Tai Lake area focused on local conditions, utilizing and increasing fertility of the lands. Using of the waste which effectively recycled the energy embodied the principles of the food chain. The farmers in this area made reasonably use of agricultural resources and they could converse and use natural resources initiatively, which reflected the wisdom of the ancient people in China. The ecological agriculture in Tai Lake area had important reference value for the development of modern ecological agriculture.