Development and challenges of green food in China.pdf

REVIEW Development and challenges of green food in China Mahmood ul HASSAN 1 Xin WEN 1 2 3 Jiuliang XU 1 2 3 Jiahui ZHONG 1 2 3 Xuexian LI 1 2 3 1 Department of Plant Nutrition The Key Plant Soil Interaction Laboratory Ministry of Evironment China Agricultural University Beijing 100193 China 2 National Academy of Agriculture Green Development China Agricultural University Beijing 100193 China 3 Chinese Academy of Green Food Development Beijing 100193 China Abstract Green food in China refers to a wide array of primary and processed agricultural products that are safe nutritious and of high quality for human consumption Green food has been certi ed and produced following the principle of sustainability since the 1990s making historic achievements in providing quality food protecting the environment increasing farmer income and nurturing agricultural brands over the past 30 years in China Today the green food industry enters a steady growth stage in terms of cultivation area product number and sales This article summarizes the history of the development of green food in China and current achievements analyze major challenges that may hamper further development of the industry and propose strategies to address these chal lenges i e optimization of the food supply chain deep food processing and utilization of food wastes Keywords green food food losses storage processing transportation sustainability 1 Introduction Green food in China refers to uncontaminated safe high quality and nutritious food produced by protecting agroecosystems as well as improving the quality of agricultural products and processed food to support sustainable development of the national economy and society 1 2 Green foodis de nedby theChina GreenFood Development Center the Ministry of Agriculture 3 It requires wholesome quality control from eld to table and is under strict supervision and regulation during produc tion processing packing storage and transportation Green food requires high level reduction in chemical inputs including synthetic fertilizers pesticides veterinary drugs and additives to ensure product and environmental safety The term green food actually covers not only culture of food production but also considers protection of the environment economics of stakeholders and social relationships Green food is usually assumed to be a high quality food product in China 4 and a vital part of the rural economy that ensures farmer sustainability and survival Development of green food can increase environmental sustainability of agriculture reduce the foodborne diseases and increase farm incomes in China 5 10 Green food has a longer certi cation history and greater popularity than organic food in China as evidenced by increased sales from 403 billion CNY 60 billion USD in 2017 to 456 billion CNY 64 billion USD in 2018 8 11 whereas the total amount of organic food is very limited due to its high prices In prehistory people after the Stone Age started to develop villages near water sources which led to a greater population and civilization Later supplying this civiliza tion become the perpetual challenge for agriculture In contrast green culture is sustainable and improves the livelihood of the farmers because it opposes economic restraints and promotes for environmental austerity Thus greenagricultureisa keycomponentoffoodproductionby enhancingtheroleofpeasantsincustodyofthelandandits ecology In late 1970s and early 1980s the Chinese government realized the need of an initiative against excessive use of chemical inputs in villages to increase production and to regulate its bad impacts on the environment Chinese of cials were searching for a way to resolve the notion of high output by high input involved in grain production 12 14 Accordingly the Chinese Ecological Agriculture CEA was developed 15 16 In the late 1980s a new initiative was undertaken to highlight the environmental protection and quality of products by adopting the idea of pollution free food production which was later called green food 5 17 18 It was a CEA objective to improve rural economic conditions Received September 25 2019 accepted November 8 2019 Correspondence steve Front Agr Sci Eng 2020 7 1 56 66 https doi org 10 15302 J FASE 2019296 Available online at The Author s 2019 Published by Higher Education Press This is an open access article under the CC BY license http creativecommons org licenses by 4 0 bypreservingtheenvironmentthroughuseofchemicalson a sustainable basis Environmental norms were similar to CEA to increase organic fertilizers while limiting chemical fertilizer and pesticide application 3 18 One key difference was that CEA focused on endorsing principles and practices to achieve environmentally friendly agriculture which provided short term incentives to CEA growers While green food production focused on ends instead of means and ends food quality safety hygiene packing and labeling as well as export were controlled by the Ministry of Agriculture locally and at a national level by developing standards A green food veri cation committee was launched in Beijing to certify the standards and hence establish the integrity of the green food logo 3 5 17 Later the China Green Food Develop ment Center was established in Beijing and joined the International Federation of Organic Agricultural Move ments in1995 Green Food Standards were developedas A and AA The A standard was characterized an interim level between the current practice high input agrochemical dependent production and organic production restricted use of chemicals whereas AA was characterized as full organic production a complete ban on synthetic chemi cals The A standard products were to be certi ed every three years while the AA standard products every year 3 5 but after 2008 no registration was done for AA and only organic food was registered This paper introduces the current situation of green food in China with a focus on development contribution challenges and prospect for the green food system 2 About green food Green food products increased rapidly in China since the 1990s 4 Green foods encompass a series of raw and processed foods including crop livestock and aquatic products 8 With ongoing rapid growth of per capita earnings as well as awareness about safe and healthy food in China 19 increasing numbers of people are choosing to purchase green foods Now certi cation of green food in China is well established with certi cation of 4422 rms and 10093 green products in 2017 and a total of 10895 companies covering 25746 green food certi ed products prior to 2017 3 4 8 10 After more than two decades of the development of green food certi cation it is important to conduct an assessment for the policy of extension of green food in China and the green food production sector needs special attention Fig 1 2 1 Green food demand Brazil Russia India China and South Africa are large emerging economies with 70 of the world populations accounting for a huge share of food production and consumption Sustainable food consumption behavior by consumers is a key factor affecting the food market 10 Limited resources and climate uctuations mean that the pro t driven agribusiness model is not a sustainable option 20 Green food is essential to feed the ever increasing population of the world Fig 2 over the coming generations to insure food security while reducing environmental pressure through economic conditions social ethics and sustainable development 21 24 Food demand is increasing by up to 60 to feed an extra 2 billion people in the world with 40 less water supply available by 2050 production of an additional 1 Gt of cereals and 200 Mt of livestock will damage the environment without mitigation strategies by producing 87 more greenhouse gas GHG emission needing 67 more cropland 65 more water 54 more N and 51 more P Fig 2 This will be a huge challenge to sustainability for humanity 25 Green food technologies may help to reduce pressure on the environment as shown in Fig 2 Green food is produced under a set of sustainable practices that can reduce the gap in earnings between rural and urban residents by giving 10 50 prices incentives and reducing inputs costs to boost their economic condition 26 27 Green food has the potential to solve many problems of food security in China and ultimately worldwide Green food innovation has already resulted in millions of hectares being green food certi ed and this is increasing rapidly 28 Improving green food production of different sectors will improve the economics of small farms as well as quality of farmland 2 2 Green food production Green food is a Chinese eco friendly scheme of food certi cation that con rms not only production processes but also outcomes Green food is a set of controlled practices and outcomes and following standards is necessary for its production 29 Fig 1 Greenfood sectorsinChina Data fromChinaGreenFood Development Center 11 Mahmood ul HASSAN et al Green food in China 57 Planting area must be under the air standards of China Irrigation and soil must be free from residues of heavy metals e g Ar Cd Cr Hg and Pb Treatment and processing water must ful ll the standards of National Drinking Water Poisonous pesticides are banned completely only controlled pesticides usage is permitted 2 3 Green food development or green growth Green food is the best option for sustainability of the environment and this imposes some requirements as shown in Fig 3 and also the following considerations 20 As consumers become increasingly aware of nutritional quality of the food they consume national and interna tional regulatory agencies will need to keep pace through the development of rapid and sensitive detection methods and generation of evidence based data to assist in the establishment of tolerance criteria for safe levels of chemical toxins in foods 2 3 1 Planning Planning facilitates the outcomes on a long term basis it may not be pro table in the transition period or not environment friendly or safe from other perspectives but it will provide bene ts over the long term 2 3 2 Policies and standards Government policy covers market standardization and promotionof greenfoodproductiontechnologies ensuring practices for green food farming as well as extension services to satisfy consumers demands by developing safety and quality standards for green foods 2 3 3 Eco environmental responsibilities Green food production requires alterations in economic activity patterns to reduce environmental pressure by providing eco friendly services 2 3 4 Economic incentives Incentives include targeting support to get desired out comes and per annum incentive for green food farming innovations skilled employee agribusiness and heavy taxes on environment externalities 2 3 5 Outcomes Special incentives for record green food production as well development of individual green food production expertise are important outcomes Fig 2 Globalfood demandandenvironmentalimpactsonfoodproduction comparisonofestimated environmental pressure ofgrowing population between 2010 and 2050 and the consequences of increasing demand of green food option 58 Front Agr Sci Eng 2020 7 1 56 66 2 4 Contribution of green food 2 4 1 Economic contribution Farming is the backbone of the economy of agricultural countries butgreenfooddevelopment canserveasadriver of economic development while green growth can expand agricultural performance Green technologies can regulate excessive consumption and expenditure on water energy andchemicals andecologicallyrestoresoil quality nutrient content and water holding capacity Agri biodiversity ensures conservation of genetic resources for new crop cultivars and animal breeds 10 22 30 2 4 2 Environmental contribution Green food production can conserve resources and provide quality produce by protecting the environment on a sustainable basis Green food development can increase yield via integrated pest water and nutrient management techniques by conserving biodiversity drought risks improved nutrients levels and hydrological function Seed selection and modi ed cropping schemes in green growth can mitigate the risks of climate change and reduce crop and farm insurance premiums 30 31 2 4 3 Social contribution Green food production system will ensure food security rural development and skilled jobs and diminish poverty over the long term by improving livelihood of the producers and health of the consumers Ecotourism being the fastest growing tourism sector is a promising route for farmers and local community sustainability 10 22 30 31 2 4 4 Science and technology contribution Advanced bioinformatics computing technologies and bio production implications will pave the way for green food development and reduce the risks of food insecurity and innovations in cropping system post farming as well as developing green food zones 10 Online marketing is an important option for food sellers and e commerce giants that is challenging the traditional food retail industry 32 33 Among all countries China is expected to be the biggest online market in 2019 34 35 a trend which started in 2012 36 and was encouraged by government by establish ing e marketing policies for agrifood markets 10 3 Future challenges Agriculture faces complex challenges such as food insecurity climate change water availability and squeez ing biodiversity in the environment Innovation in agricultural practice to increase food production while balancing the quality of products and sustainability of the environment is essential as the increasing population increases food demand Fig 2 Fig 3 The major chal lenges the world will face in upcoming years are outlined below 3 1 Waste of uneaten food One major challenge is discarded uneaten food that Fig 3 Food losses in the supply chain from eld to consumer Mahmood ul HASSAN et al Green food in China 59 contains energy and resources of production including GHG emissions Globally one third of production is lost as uneaten food loss i e lost before consumption particu larly due to spoilage and leaky supply chains 37 and represents a huge economic waste 38 39 In the USA retailer to consumer loss is 30 for fresh vegetables and 40 for meat 39 Food waste is a broader term which includes food waste due to human activities as well as pest attack and climate change 40 These includes losses from eld to kitchens end users as shown in Fig 2 and Fig 3 and these losses will be equal to 30 of production in the coming years 37 41 42 Over 95 of wasted foods ends up in land ll and affects the climate catastrophically by transformation into GHGs 43 Notably replacing animal based products with plant based products can increase food availability by allowing resource production from feed to human food 44 49 Improving packaging and infrastructure and recovering edible losses by integration of green food can reduces these losses in developing countries and is a key strategy to ensure food secur ity 44 49 50 yielding mo