Search

In the postantibiotic era, the pathogenicity and resistance of pathogens have increased, leading to an increase in intestinal inflammatory disease. Bacterial infections remain the leading cause of animal mortality. With increasing resistance to antibiotics, there has been a significant decrease in resistance to both inflammation and disease in animals, thus decreasing production efficiency and increasing production costs. These side effects have serious consequences and have detracted from the development of China's pig industry. Microcin C7 (McC7) demonstrates potent antibacterial activity against a broad spectrum of pathogens, stable physicochemical properties, and low toxicity, reducing the likelihood of resistance development. Thus, McC7 has received increasing attention as a potential clinical antibacterial and immunomodulatory agent. McC7 has the potential to serve as a new generation of antibiotic substitutes; however, its commercial applications in the livestock and poultry industry have been limited. In this review, we summarize and discuss the biosynthesis, biochemical properties, structural characteristics, mechanism of action, and immune strategies of McC7. We also describe the ability of McC7 to improve intestinal health. Our aim in this study was to provide a theoretical basis for the application of McC7 as a new feed additive or new veterinary drug in the livestock and poultry breeding industry, thus providing a new strategy for alleviating resistance through feed and mitigating drug resistance. Furthermore, this review provides insight into the new functions and anti-infection mechanisms of bacteriocin peptides and proposes crucial ideas for the research, product development, and application of bacteriocin peptides in different fields, such as the food and medical industries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Holothuria scabra, a commercially valuable yet ecologically vulnerable tropical holothuroid, has experienced a severe decline in its wild populations, especially in China. Genomic resources are crucial for the development of effective genomic breeding projects and stock conservation strategies to restore these natural populations. Until now, a high-quality, chromosome-level reference genome for H. scabra has not been available. Here, we employed Oxford Nanopore and Hi-C sequencing technologies to assemble and annotate a high-quality, chromosome-level reference genome of H. scabra. The final genome comprised 31 scaffolds with a total length of 1.19 Gb and a scaffold N50 length of 53.52 Mb. Remarkably, 1,191.67 Mb (99.95%) of the sequences were anchored to 23 pseudo-chromosomes, with the longest one spanning 79.75 Mb. A total of 34,418 protein-coding genes were annotated in the final genome, with BUSCO analysis revealing 98.01% coverage of metazoa_odb10 genes, marking a significant improvement compared to the previous report. These chromosome-level sequences and annotations will provide an essential genomic basis for further investigation into molecular breeding and conservation management of H. scabra. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assessing the emission-peaking process of agricultural land use provides valuable insights for mitigating global warming. This study calculated agricultural land-use carbon emissions (ALUCEs) in China from 2000 to 2020 and explored the peaking process based on quantitative criteria. Further, we applied the Tapio decoupling index and environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) model to discuss the robustness of the peaking process. The main conclusions are as follows: (1) From 2000 to 2020, China's average ALUCEs were 368.1 Mt C-eq (1349.7 CO2-eq), peaking at 396.9 Mt C-eq (1455.3 Mt CO2-eq) in 2015 before plateauing. Emissions from agricultural materials and soil management had entered the declining period, while those from rice cultivation were in the peaking period, those from straw burning were still rising, and those from livestock breeding remained at the plateauing phase. (2) The provinces of Beijing, Tianjin, and nine others saw a decline in ALUCEs, while Hainan, Guizhou, and another nine provinces observed plateauing, and Ningxia, Qinghai, and six other provinces experienced peaking. (3) Decoupling analysis confirmed that emission-peaking states remained stable even with agricultural growth. Instead of an inverted U-shaped relationship, we found an N-shaped relationship between ALUCEs and agricultural GDP. The spatial EKC model indicated that the peaking process had spillover effects between provinces. It is recommended that China accelerate ALUCE mitigation based on the source and phase of emissions, considering the peaking process and magnitude. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The general requirements of China's rural revitalization strategy are industrial prosperity, ecological livability and rich life. However, the traditional livestock breeding model has struggled to balance the dual requirements of production development and ecological protection, and it is urgent to inject new impetus and explore new development paths. At present, e-commerce has become a bridge between pastoral areas and cities, herdsmen and consumers. E-commerce participation is not only an important starting point for herdsmen to increase the added value and profit space of livestock products, but also an effective way to change the original breeding behavior based on the premise of destroying grassland. Therefore, this paper presents an in-depth study on the issue of e-commerce enabling grassland ecological restoration, aiming to provide more scientific and effective guidance for e-commerce to be used to achieve a win–win situation in economy and ecology. Therefore, based on the data of 271 herdsmen in pastoral areas of Inner Mongolia, we used the OLS model and the two-stage least squares (2SLS) method to identify the direct impact of herdsmen's e-commerce participation on grassland utilization pressure. The empirical results show that e-commerce participation can significantly decrease the grassland utilization pressure. The conclusion was still valid after alleviating endogeneity and conducting a robustness test. The results of a mechanism analysis suggest that the reduction effect of e-commerce participation on grassland utilization pressure is mainly due to price incentive, reputation incentive and place identity. Subjective norms can strengthen the inhibitory effect of e-commerce participation on grassland utilization pressure. Furthermore, a heterogeneity analysis demonstrates that e-commerce participation has a better, decreased impact on the grassland utilization pressure on the banners of China's rural e-commerce demonstration county program. Under a counterfactual assumption, if herdsmen who can participate in e-commerce choose not to do this, their grassland utilization pressure will increase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Estimating the pollution loads in the Tuhai River is essential for developing a water quality standard scheme. This study utilized the improved output coefficient method to estimate the total pollution loads in the river basin while analyzing the influencing factors based on the STIRPAT (Stochastic Impacts by Regression on Population, Affluence, and Technology) model. Findings indicated that the projected point source pollution loads for total phosphorus (TP), chemical oxygen demand (COD), and ammonia nitrogen (AN) would amount to 3937.22 ton, 335,523.25 ton, and 13,946.92 ton in 2021, respectively. Among these, COD pollution would pose the greatest concern. The primary contributors to the pollution loads were rural scattered life, large-scale livestock and poultry breeding, and surface runoff. Per capita GDP emerged as the most influential factor affecting the pollution loads, followed by cultivated land area, while the urbanization rate demonstrated the least impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The policy of "changing grain to forage" is an important means to optimize the structure of farming and breeding, a powerful measure to boost the agricultural economy, and the core of promoting high-quality development of the aquaculture industry. Based on the double difference model, panel data from eight provinces implementing the "changing grain to forage" policy was selected to explore the impact of the implementation of the "changing grain to forage" policy on the scale of livestock and poultry breeding. The research results show that the implementation of the "changing grain to forage" policy has a certain driving effect on the expansion of livestock and poultry breeding scale in China. The level of intelligent breeding and fixed asset investment has a significant promoting effect on the scale of livestock and poultry breeding. The price of calves and the intensity of disease occurrence have inhibitory effects on the scale of livestock and poultry farming. Further research has found that the implementation of the "changing grain to forage" policy can significantly promote the large-scale development of livestock and poultry in breeding farms. The level of intelligent breeding has a more significant positive effect on large-scale breeding farms. Compared to medium scale farms, the intensity of disease occurrence has a relatively small adverse impact on large-scale farms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: In the context of increasing global meat consumption, the meat production industry is facing significant challenges as it strives to enhance attributes related to livestock and meat quality. This is of paramount importance. Vertebral traits are among the factors influencing the overall body size and carcass weight of animals, with profound implications for both meat quality and quantity. This issue is particularly prominent in the livestock breeding sector, especially in China, where the augmentation of body size traits has become a central objective due to its consequential impact on carcass quality. Vertebral traits in livestock are complex, polygenic characteristics, and numerous genetic markers and pathways associated with vertebral development, size, and length have already been identified. This review article emphasizes the significant genes linked to vertebral traits in animals such as pigs, sheep, and donkeys based on the existing literature. It further underscores the importance of exploring deeper into molecular mechanisms to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the relationship between vertebral traits and genes, facilitating their effective utilization in successful breeding programs. In livestock breeding, the number of vertebrae has gained significant attention due to its impact on carcass quality and quantity. Variations in vertebral traits have been observed across different animal species and breeds, with a strong correlation to growth and meat production. Furthermore, vertebral traits are classified as quantitative characteristics. Molecular marker techniques, such as marker-assisted selection (MAS), have emerged as efficient tools to identify genetic markers associated with vertebral traits. In the current review, we highlight some key potential genes and their polymorphisms that play pivotal roles in controlling vertebral traits (development, length, and number) in various livestock species, including pigs, donkeys, and sheep. Specific genetic variants within these genes have been linked to vertebral development, number, and length, offering valuable insights into the genetic mechanisms governing vertebral traits. This knowledge has significant implications for selective breeding strategies to enhance structural characteristics and meat quantity and quality in livestock, ultimately improving the efficiency and quality of the animal husbandry industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using untreated livestock manure adversely affects the environment and human health. Although transforming untreated livestock manure into organic fertilizer can alleviate these adverse effects, the adoption rate of this technology is relatively low in rural areas. This study investigates whether information technology adoption, focusing on Internet use, increases farmers' willingness to transform untreated livestock manure into organic fertilizer using data collected from pig breeding farmers in the Hubei province of China. A recursive bivariate probit model addresses the sample selection bias issues. Findings show that Internet use increases the probability of pig breeding farmers' willingness to transform untreated manure by around 35–56 percentage points. Gender, farm size, credit availability, extension contact, environmental protection attitude and governmental regulation are also important factors driving pig breeding farmers' willingness to transform untreated manure. Moreover, the impact of Internet use on farmers' willingness to transform untreated pig manure tends to be higher for pig breeding farmers with a larger breeding size and longer breeding years. Our findings have significant policy implications that help to improve livestock manure management, environmental quality, and the well-being and health of livestock breeding farmers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Animal diseases have always been a serious threat to livestock breeding, and the establishment of a biosecurity barrier is important for disease prevention and control. Based on the investigations conducted in seven provinces located farms, this study aimed to explore the current biosecurity levels of farms in China, construct a biosecurity evaluation system, calculate the biosecurity levels of farms using the rank sum ratio comprehensive evaluation method, and develop an empirical analysis of the factors influencing biosecurity levels. Results: The results show that the greater the cost of biosecurity invested, the greater the level of biosecurity. Male farmers, educational attainment and participation in technical training had a significant positive effect on biosecurity levels. In addition, biosecurity levels first decreased and then increased as the scale of farming increased. The study also found that the more people in the household engaged in farming, the higher the biosecurity level of the farm. And farms that joined cooperatives had higher levels of biosecurity. Conclusion: The rank sum ratio method can evaluate the index system, so as to obtain a comprehensive index RSR value that can be compared, and the operation steps are simple and effective. By taking measures such as improving the comprehensive quality of farmers and increasing the investment in human, material and financial resources for biosecurity, the biosecurity level of farms can be effectively improved and animal diseases can be effectively prevented and controlled. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agricultural ammonia (NH3) emissions (including farmland, livestock and poultry) are China's main sources of NH3 emissions. China's government has proposed a national strategic goal to reduce NH3 emissions. Excessive protein feeds, unreasonable manure treatments and agricultural fertilizer applications result in large emissions of NH3. Agricultural activities such as the breeding of livestock and fertilization in farmlands are the main sources of atmospheric NH3 emissions. This article discussed the progress and characteristics of typical NH3 emission inventory, calculated the nationwide NH3 emissions and analyzed the NH3 emission control strategy in the past 40 years in China. There was also an integration analysis of national documents on emission reduction technologies (including government reports) in China. The results showed that there existed single calculation methods and insufficient localization of emission factors in the estimation of domestic NH3 emissions. NH3 emission inventories varied greatly influenced by meteorology, planting structure and breeding pattern. The control strategy of NH3 emission in China has transformed from emission standards to technical guidelines to national strategic control, and it involves the coordination and cooperation of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs departments. Current domestic NH3 emission management strategy needs scientific emission verification specification, multi-department and inter-provincial regional coordination mechanisms, and suggestions for further improvement have been put forward. It is urgent to evaluate precise NH3 emission inventories at different regional scales, followed by intensive NH3 emission controls in the key regions (such as North China). Government, agriculture, and breeding industries should vigorously promote low-protein feeds, large-scale livestock farming (including poultry), and pilot projects on closed negative pressure farming. Also, agriculture-related NH3 emission reduction measures should be fully implemented by providing technical support for NH3 emission control in domestic agricultural farms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the most important reasons restricting the rapid development of animal husbandry in China is the shortage of protein raw materials. Urtica cannabina L. is a perennial herb rich in nutrient component and can be seen as feed to develop and utilize. The paper mainly studies the application in pigs, cattle, sheep and chicken as well as gives suggestions on the development and utilization of Urtica cannabina L., aiming to provide reference for the subsequent research and application of Urtica cannabina L. as an unconventional feed resource in livestock and poultry breeding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Improving the total factor productivity (TFP) of animal husbandry enterprises is the key to promoting the sustainable development of animal husbandry. Technological progress is an important driving force for improving the TFP of animal husbandry enterprises, and research and development (R&D) investment determines the speed of technological progress. Based on the data of Chinese animal husbandry enterprises listed on Shanghai and Shenzhen A-shares in China between 2009 and 2022, this article empirically analyzes the impact of R&D investment on the TFP of animal husbandry enterprises and the moderating role of executive incentives in it and discusses the heterogeneity of this impact, using the fixed-effects model. It is found that R&D investment has a significant positive impact on the TFP of animal husbandry enterprises, and the TFP of animal husbandry enterprises increased by 0.00105 for every 1% increase in R&D investment. Equity incentives for executives positively moderated the relationship between R&D investment and the TFP of animal husbandry enterprises, while executive compensation incentives negatively moderated the relationship. Heterogeneity analysis shows that R&D investment has a significant effect on the TFP of non-state-owned animal husbandry enterprises, but has no significant impact on the TFP of state-owned animal husbandry enterprises. The impact of R&D investment on TFP showed a significant promotion in the livestock and poultry breeding and meat product processing industries, but not in the feed production, dairy product processing and animal health industries. R&D investment has a significant effect on the TFP of animal husbandry enterprises in Eastern China and Central China, but has no significant impact on the TFP of animal husbandry enterprises in Western China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China has a huge output of vegetables and fruits, and processed vegetable and fruit residue is rich in nutrients, rich in crude protein, crude fiber, vitamins, polyphenols, polysaccharides, flavonoids and other components, but it is not easy to preserve and has poor palatability, so it can not be directly used as animal feed. Screening of high-quality yeast and other probiotics can improve the nutritional value of vegetable and fruit residue feed and reduce feed cost, which has a positive effect on fruit and vegetable processing industry and livestock and poultry breeding industry. The paper reviewed the yeast species screening, fermentation technology and application of fermented vegetable and fruit residue in animal feed, aiming to provide reference for the research and application of fermented vegetable and fruit residue in livestock and poultry breeding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: The frequent occurrence of pig epidemics has restricted the sustainable and healthy development of the pig industry and its ability to enhance the supply of pork, negatively impacting China's economic and social development. In recent years, China has faced many pig epidemic risks and challenges, with one high-risk area and two medium–high-risk areas. The epidemic risk was highest in Beijing, Hainan, Liaoning, Tibet and Zhejiang. This study will help to better prevent and mitigate epidemic risks, promote high-quality development of the pig industry, and meet the nutritional needs of residents. Strengthening the analysis and risk assessment of the pig epidemic will help to better prevent and mitigate epidemic risks and promote the high-quality development of the pig industry. Based on a systematic understanding of live pig epidemics, a risk assessment index system was constructed, and the spatial and temporal variation characteristics of pig epidemics in China were explored by the entropy method. In recent years, the overall trend in pig epidemics over time first increased and then decreased; in space, the acceleration of the spread of epidemics across the country weakened. China still faces challenges, including many types and a wide range of diseases, large total livestock breeding and weak epidemic prevention and control capacity, and a large risk of introduced foreign animal epidemics. The spatial and temporal variations in the pig epidemic risk were obvious; one high-risk area, two medium–high-risk areas and 10 medium-risk areas have been found in recent years, during which time, the epidemic risk was highest in Beijing, Hainan, Liaoning, Tibet and Zhejiang. However, there were significant differences in the regional distribution of the risk level of pig epidemics in different years. To further build a secure "defense system" for the high-quality development of the pig industry, it is recommended to improve the monitoring and early warning system of pig epidemic risk, perfect the pig epidemic prevention and control system, and strengthen the regional collaboration mechanism of epidemic prevention and control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China has implemented an environmental protection tax for large-scale agricultural farming to address environmental pollution caused by livestock and poultry breeding. Studying the environmental management of large-scale pig farming is crucial for controlling agricultural pollution. However, the economic impact and effectiveness of the current tax design, including responsibility sharing, tax rates, and taxpayers, are unclear. This study aims to address these gaps. Firstly, two types of taxation principles, production-based and consumption-based, are established, and their effects on pollution emissions distribution between pig production and marketing areas are comparatively analyzed. Secondly, the economic impact of consumption-based environmental taxes is estimated from inter-provincial and rural–urban perspectives under the current tax mechanism. Thirdly, a new alternative tax rate aligned with inter-provincial pig consumption levels is proposed based on the consumption principle. By comparing alternative tax systems, the potential impact of the current environmental tax on the regional economic burden is analyzed. The results highlighted that a production-based tax system resulted in 83% of regions experiencing varying degrees of implicit emission transfers, and a consumption-based tax system helped coordinate the environmental economic burden between pig production and marketing regions. Additionally, a linear relationship between tax rates and pork consumption expenditure not only alleviated the overall economic burden, leading to tax savings in 30% of regions, but also increased the national environmental revenue from the pig farming industry, resulting in a remarkable 147% rise in overall environmental tax revenue. These findings provide theoretical support for adjusting responsibility and economic burden through environmental tax modifications, facilitating the establishment of a compensation mechanism for the benefits between pig production and marketing areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a large country of livestock and poultry breeding, China needs to timely solve the large amount of livestock and poultry manure produced every year. Composting technology, as the most widely used means of manure management, still has an influence on serious carbon and nitrogen loss, and environmental pollution. Based on the comprehensive reading of dozens of domestic and foreign literatures, this paper analyzed seven factors affecting carbon and nitrogen storage in the process of livestock manure composting, including pH value, ventilation, surface coverage, carbon nitrogen ratio, moisture, temperature, especially the types and mechanism of composting additives. It can reduce the loss of carbon and nitrogen in the composting process and environmental pollution, and improve the quality of composting through the regulation of various composting factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the significant impacts of natural factors such as rainfall, topography, soil type, and river network as well as agricultural activities on the environmental water quality, little is known about the influence of their temporal and spatial variations in a fluvial-lacustrine watershed. In this study, a whole process accounting method based the export coefficient model (WP-ECM) was first developed to quantify how natural factors and agricultural activities distribution influenced water quality. A case study was performed in a typical fluvial-lacustrine area — Dongting basin, China. The simulated results indicated that the natural factors can promote and inhibit the migration and transformation of agricultural pollutants generated from the watershed and the spatial distribution of the natural factors displayed high variability. It should be priority to monitor the areas with greater natural impact in the basin. Moreover, the cultivated land area and the number of pig-breeding were positively correlated with the pollutant discharge. From the perspective of the spatial distribution of comprehensive influence, the comprehensive high-impact areas are mainly distributed in the Dongting Lake district in 2005–2010 and in Xiang River watershed in 2010–2020. A key strategy for controlling or reducing the cultivated land area and the intensity of livestock breeding in these high-impacts areas is recommended to reduce the impact of the environmental water quality for the entire basin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The high-quality development of animal husbandry is necessary support to promote rural revitalization, and also key to building Chinese path to modernization. From perspective of connotation and era positioning, animal husbandry refers to future development of animal husbandry towards ecology, safety, and other aspects to achieve highquality and efficient development, comprehensively improve quality and quantity of social livestock and poultry product supply. Facing Chinese path to modernization, high-quality development of China's animal husbandry not only conforms to goal orientation of ecological and open cooperation in new era, but also follows Chinese law of economic and industrial layout. Therefore, it is proposed to consolidate the foundation and accelerate construction of modern livestock and poultry breeding and breeding industry. Improve security and establish an animal epidemic prevention system. Suggestions on strengthening competition and improving animal husbandry policies and measures to better play the supporting role of high-quality development of animal husbandry in process of Chinese path to modernization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reactive nitrogen (Nr) emissions aggravate air and water pollution across the world. The factors influencing Nr emissions have not been clearly uncovered, especially for regions under rapid economic growth. Here we modeled total Nr emissions in mainland China and analyzed factors driving their growth during the decade (2000–2010) of fastest socioeconomic development. Results show that total Nr emissions increased from 24.9 terrogram (Tg) to 35.2 Tg, a 41.7% increase with an average annual growth rate of 3.5%. Agricultural activities, including crop planting and livestock and poultry breeding, together took a substantial but decreasing share, from 75.2% in 2000 to 61.4% in 2010. Industrial wastewater discharge, energy use, and crop production are the three largest sources contributing to the Nr emissions growth. Factors related to scale (e.g., the amount of industrial energy use) led to a growth in Nr emissions, and factors related to efficiency (e.g., industrial energy use per unit of economic output) contributed to reduction. The decreasing effect of efficiency gains, however, was still unable to overcome the increasing effect of the activity scale. More in‐depth research studies on mitigation strategies are required, to inform the decoupling between socioeconomic development and Nr emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Livestock and poultry breeding modes, feed compositions and manure collection systems have regional characteristics, which can directly affect the composition of livestock and poultry breeding manure, energy production by anaerobic digestion and resource utilization of products. The chemical, heavy metal contents and microbiological characteristics of pig manures and digestates were characterized in five pig farms and biogas plants in Quzhou (Zhejiang Province) in this study. The results showed that hemicellulose and cellulose of pig manures could be partly degraded in anaerobic digestion, but lignin was difficultly degraded and accumulated in digestates. The content of Zn was highest in the pig manure and digestate samples, followed by Cu, Cr, As, Ni, Pb, Cd, T1 and Hg. The As content was 16.09–31.22 mg kg−1 in the pig manure and digestate samples, which exceeded the standard limitation requirements in fertilizers in China (≤15 mg kg−1). Bacteroidota, Firmicutes, Proteobacteria and Spirochaetota dominated in the pig manure and digestate samples, with a relative abundance of 73.6%−99.4%. The microbial community structure in the pig manure samples was quite different among the five farms. The pH, contents of lignin, T1 and As had a significant effect on the microbial community structure in the pig manure samples, while the contents of total phosphorus, NO3−–N, cellulose and Pb could significantly influence the microbial community structure in the digestate samples. These findings can provide a theoretical basis for recycling manure and improving biogas engineering in large-scale pig farms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Guangdong Province is one of the largest agricultural regions in China, in addition to the robust economy. Agricultural development has been accelerated to ensure the food security in recent years. The agricultural non-point source pollution has been triggered by the large-scale investments in chemical fertilizers, pesticides, plastic mulch, and the rapid development of the livestock and poultry breeding industry. The purpose of this study is to unveil the emission quantity and sources of agricultural non-point source pollutants in Guangdong Province, elucidate the main characteristics and development trends of agricultural non-point source pollution, and thereby propose control measures targeting the primary pollutant sources. In this study, the emission coefficient was proposed to estimate the number of various pollutants that emitted by agriculture, livestock and poultry breeding, and aquaculture in Guangdong Province of China from 1991 to 2021. The data was also collected to better understand the agricultural development in the fertilization, arable land area, pig, cattle, poultry and aquaculture. The main causes were then determined for the agricultural non-point source pollution and their changing trends over time. The results show that: 1) An upward trend was found in the total discharges of chemical oxygen demand (COD), ammonia nitrogen (NH3 -N), total nitrogen (TN), and total phosphorus (TP) from the agricultural sources. The discharges of various pollutants decreased slightly since 2018, due to the reducing use of chemical fertilizer. The amount of fertilizer was applied per unit area more than twice the international average level. It is very necessary to reduce the chemical fertilizer use for the high efficiency. The discharges of COD, NH3 -N, TN, and TP from the agricultural sources increased to 1.9, 1.9, 1.7, and 2.2 times, respectively, in 2021, compared with 1991. 2) The primary contributors to the agricultural non-point source pollution were the planting, livestock and poultry breeding industries. The planting industry was contributed the most to the nitrogen discharges, accounting for 48% of NH3 -N losses, and 52% of total nitrogen losses from the agricultural sources, respectively. In addition, the water pollution that caused by the planting industry was mainly from the application of chemical fertilizers. The livestock and poultry breeding industry was the primary source of COD and TP discharge from the agricultural sources. Specifically, 90% and 51% of the total COD and TP discharges from agricultural sources were from the livestock and poultry breeding sector, respectively. The number of pollutants that discharged by the large-scale farming were accounted for more than 70% of the total pollutants discharged by the livestock and poultry breeding industry. Among different types of livestock and poultry, pigs were contributed the most to the emission of various pollutants, followed by poultry. Different pollutants that emitted by the aquaculture industry were accounted for between 10% and 16% of total emissions from agricultural sources. Aquaculture was ever increasing every year. Moreover, the effluent that produced by aquaculture (particularly mariculture) was challenging to clean up. Consequently, the number of pollutants that discharged into water from aquaculture sources will increase over time, indicating the increasing share of the total emissions from agricultural sources. Therefore, it is urgent to find the solutions for the waste disposal of large-scale pig farms. Also, the pollutant discharges from aquaculture needs to be considered. The finding can also provide a strong reference for the decision-making in the agricultural environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Clean Coal Technology is the property of Clean Coal Technology and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Chinese medicine is widely used in disease prevention and control, and a lot of Chinese medicine residue is produced in China every year. If these residues are not properly disposed of, they will cause damage to the environment and waste resources. The application of fermented Chinese medicine residue in the feed industry can not only alleviate the problem of feed resource shortage, but also improve the performance of livestock and poultry production. The paper reviews the fermentation process of Chinese medicine residue, the advantages of fermentation and its application in livestock and poultry production, providing reference for the resource utilization of Chinese medicine residues, reducing the cost of livestock and poultry breeding and improving the quality of livestock products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The agricultural non-point source (NPS) pollution caused by non-irrigated farming, such as heavy metals, nitrogen and phosphorus, has posed an extreme threat to the security of agricultural product quality and watershed ecology. Thus, it is urgent to sort out the latest research progress and future development trend to effectively guide future scientific research and technological updates in this field. This study integrates the relevant literature of the Web of Science from 1976 to 2021 and analyzes the research hotspots and development trends in the field of agricultural NPS pollution from non-irrigated farming in combination with CiteSpace. The results showed that the proportion of publications from the United States and China accounted for 58.4%. Science of the Total Environment, Water Science and Technology and Journal of the American Water Resources Association were the most published journals. The research topics and hotspots mainly involve agricultural NPS pollution prevention technology, pollution source identification, pollution load and management and landscape pattern evolution. In the future, agricultural NPS pollution research in non-irrigated farming should combine agricultural big data platforms, spectroscopic methods, artificial intelligence technology, etc. and focus on strengthening soil testing formula fertilization management, the efficient use of livestock and poultry breeding manure, climate change and risk early warning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The separation between planting and breeding results in an unbalanced distribution of the regional livestock and poultry manure (RLM) industry, and it has raised great concerns. A holistic analysis and problem-solving scheme using 72 townships as the research point was developed in this study. On the basis of a survey from a typical agricultural region in China, the local characteristics of manure discharge, land use, and crop cultivation were analyzed. The assessment of land carrying capacity and environmental risk assessment was conducted by simulating the nitrogen cycle. Afterwards, optimized livestock breeding strategies and inter-regional transfer and flow scheme of manure nutrients were proposed. The spatial distribution of RLM in terms of pig manure equivalent showed an imbalance of high north–south and low middle, and the nitrogen requirement of crops showed a decreasing trend from north to south. In some townships, the environmental risks were higher than level I, which indicated that pollution existed around large construction sites and water areas in the northwest. The land carrying capacity index calculated at 50% nutrient ratio displayed no overloaded risk, whereas 10–20% nutrient ratio exhibited overloaded risk. Assessments showed that the residual RLM and its nitrogen volume were 151,700 and 3574.64 tons per year, respectively. More than 80% of the study area could be used as a nitrogen nutrient sink area, and only six townships are nitrogen nutrient sources. Therefore, optimizing the allocation of manure nutrients is expected to avoid agricultural contamination from livestock manure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Agro-Environment Science is the property of Journal of Agro-Environment Science Editorial Board and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Unregulated livestock breeding and grazing can degrade grasslands and damage the ecological environment. The combination of remote sensing and artificial intelligence techniques is a more convenient and powerful means to acquire livestock information in a large area than traditional manual ground investigation. As a mainstream remote sensing platform, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) can obtain high-resolution optical images to detect grazing livestock in grassland. However, grazing livestock objects in UAV images usually occupy very few pixels and tend to gather together, which makes them difficult to detect and count automatically. This paper proposes the GLDM (grazing livestock detection model), a lightweight and high-accuracy deep-learning model, for detecting grazing livestock in UAV images. The enhanced CSPDarknet (ECSP) and weighted aggregate feature re-extraction pyramid modules (WAFR) are constructed to improve the performance based on the YOLOX-nano network scheme. The dataset of different grazing livestock (12,901 instances) for deep learning was made from UAV images in the Hadatu Pasture of Hulunbuir, Inner Mongolia, China. The results show that the proposed method achieves a higher comprehensive detection precision than mainstream object detection models and has an advantage in model size. The m A P of the proposed method is 86.47%, with the model parameter 5.7 M. The average recall and average precision can be above 85% at the same time. The counting accuracy of grazing livestock in the testing dataset, when converted to a unified sheep unit, reached 99%. The scale applicability of the model is also discussed, and the GLDM could perform well with the image resolution varying from 2.5 to 10 cm. The proposed method, the GLDM, was better for detecting grassland grazing livestock in UAV images, combining remote sensing, AI, and grassland ecological applications with broad application prospects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Yak is the dominant animal species in China's plateau regions. The development of the yak industry is conducive to protecting the ecosystem of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau and promoting local economic development. However, the slow growth and development of yak have seriously affected the development of the yak industry. Structural variation (SV) has been widely applied in livestock breeding for growth traits. Therefore, it is of great significance to use SV to improve yak growth traits in yak breeding. Meanwhile, the GHR gene plays an important role in the formation and normal development of bones. This study associated the correlation between the yak GHR SV gene and growth traits and confirmed that GHR-SV can be used as a molecular marker for the early reproduction of yaks. This study provides a theoretical basis for the early growth and development of yaks. The growth hormone receptor (GHR) is a member of the cytokine/hematopoietic factor receptor superfamily, which plays an important role in the growth and development, immunity, and metabolism of animals. This study identified a 246 bp deletion variant in the intronic region of the GHR gene, and three genotypes, including type II, type ID, and type DD, were observed. Genotype analysis of structural variation (SV) was performed on 585 individuals from 14 yak breeds, and it was found that 246 bp deletion was present in each breed. The II genotype was dominant in all yak breeds except for SB yak. The association analysis of gene polymorphisms and growth traits in the ASD yak population showed that the 246 bp SV was significantly associated with body length at 6 months (p < 0.05). GHR messenger RNA (mRNA) was expressed in all the tested tissues, with significantly higher levels in the liver, muscle, and fat than in other organs. The results of transcription activity showed that the luciferase activity of the pGL4.10-DD vector was significantly higher than that of the pGL4.10-II vector (p < 0.05). Additionally, the transcription-factor binding prediction results showed that the SV in the runt-related transcription factor 1 (Runx1) transcription-factor binding site may affect the transcriptional activity of the GHR gene, regulating yak growth and development. This study showed that the novel SV of the GHR gene could be used as a candidate molecular marker for the selection of the early growth trait in ASD yak. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Constructed wetland (CW) is widely used in the treatment of swine wastewater, due to the operation cost-saving and simple maintenance. However, the pollutant removal efficiency is greatly affected by temperature in CW technology. Fortunately, the exoelectrogens-microalgae biofilm is composed of extracellular respiratory bacteria and microalgae, particularly with the high efficiency, energy saving, and low cost in wastewater treatment. Therefore, the stability of CW can be enhanced by the exoelectrogens-microalgae biofilm at low temperatures. It is a high demand to evaluate the technical reliability of long-term outdoor operations. This study aims to improve the treatment efficiency and microbial community of swine wastewater under natural temperatures, in order to explore the effect of temperature on exoelectrogens-microalgae biofilm in the enhanced CW system. Extracellular respiratory bacteria were achieved in the direct interspecific electron transfer process through direct contact or conductive substance mediation. As such, the hydrogen partial pressure and the concentration of metabolite greatly improved the electron transport efficiency and metabolic rate. Extracellular respiratory bacteria mainly included electroactive bacteria, such as Shewanella. The extracellular respiratory bacteria produced carbon dioxide by metabolizing organic matter, which was used as a carbon source for the microalgae. The oxygen produced by microalgae was used as an electron acceptor for the extracellular respiratory bacteria, thus realizing the material and energy mutual camping between them. Therefore, the construction of exoelectrogens-microalgae biofilm was a feasible way to improve the efficiency of CW wastewater treatment. There were high concentrations of carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus in the swine wastewater. The treatment efficiency of swine wastewater and microbial community of the system under natural temperature was determined in the coupling exoelectrogens-microalgae biofilms (EMB) with the CW system. The outdoor experiment then lasted for 18 months. The results showed that the removal rates of chemical oxygen demand (COD), ammonia nitrogen, nitrate nitrogen, total nitrogen, total phosphorus, and nitrite nitrogen in the EMB-CW group in summer and winter reached 98.26/96.10%, 97.96/91.56%, 85.45/65.29%, 95.07/89.94%, 91.44/92.12%, and 85.45%/83.15%, respectively, with the strong adaptability at low temperature. The effluent concentrations of COD, ammonia nitrogen, nitrate nitrogen, total nitrogen, total phosphorus, and nitrous nitrogen were 97.50, 12.70, 1.24, 24.44, 1.97, and 0.17 mg/L, respectively, which fully met the Emission Standard for Livestock and Poultry Industry (GB18596-2001) in China. Compared with the CW group, the removal rates of the above pollutants in the EMB-CW group increased by 5.75, 6.95, 8.00, 13.75, 2.38, and 20.93 percentage points, respectively. Cyanobium, Shewanella and Azoarcus were the dominant microorganisms of the EMB-CW group in both winter and summer, and the stability of community structure was high, which was conducive to the removal rate of pollutants in winter for the reliability of the EMB-CW system. Consequently, the exoelectrogens-microalgae biofilm significantly improved the pollutant treatment efficiency and stability of the CW system under low-temperature conditions. The finding can provide an idea for the treatment of rural livestock and poultry farming wastewater. Therefore, better social benefits and technically feasible can be expected to gain for the application of exoelectrogens-microalgae biofilm in practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effective prevention and control of agricultural non-point source pollution is a major challenge faced by the Chinese local government in the context of rural revitalization, and clarifying the game relationship between stakeholders in agricultural non-point source pollution control actions will help achieve multiple co-governance better. Accordingly, this paper discusses the interactive decision-making relationships between local government and livestock and poultry breeding enterprise (LPBE) under the participation of Environmental non-government organizations (ENGOs) and public, by constructing an evolutionary game model, as well as analyzing evolutionary cooperative stability strategies and realizing the simulation of evolution processes in different scenarios by MATLAB. The results show that government subsidy has an incentive effect on LPBE to adopt the purifying strategy, yet reduces the enthusiasm of local government for supervision. Improving the participation degree and right space of ENGOs is conducive to the realization of multiple co-governance models. Furthermore, the impact of public participation on multiple co-governance of agricultural non-point source pollution is related to the local government's investigation rate and the public reporting fairness; strengthening the local government's supervision capacity and improving the public reporting fairness can achieve better collaborative governance effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sources of P and N in water-carrying lakes include exogenous input and endogenous release. However, the influence of pollution from different sources on the dynamic distribution of N and P at the sediment-water interface in water-carrying lakes remains unclear. The objectives of this study were to investigate the differences in dynamic distribution characteristics of P compounds and N elements in Lake Jiaogang, a major water-carrying lake in eastern China. Four functional regions with different types of pollutant sources and different kinds of aquatic plants were selected to study the distribution of total P (TP), inorganic P, organic P, ammonium (NH4+–N), and nitrate (NO3−–N). The results revealed that regions with internal-source pollutants contained the highest concentration of TP, Ca–P, and Fe–P with high concentrations. L–P, Al–P, mostly organic P, and soluble reactive phosphorous (SRP), the region with internal-source pollutants were lower than that with the imported-source pollutant. The concentration of dissolved NH4+–N showed high in regions with imported-source pollutants, however, in regions with internal-source pollutants, the dissolved NO3−–N was with the highest concentration. Overall, P from upstream was still dominant in the sediments despite uptake by the aquatic plants. SRP showed high concentration in regions with imported-source pollutants due to the imported pollution and the improved bioavailability by plant root exudates. Feces and feed residues from aquatic livestock breeding resulted in the highest concentration of TN, NH4+–N, and dissolved NO3−–N in the sediments of the region with internal-source pollutants. High concentrations of dissolved NH4+–N were due to the input of N from imported source pollutants. This study provides insights into the contributions of P and N to the eutrophication of the water-carrying lake. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Marker-assisted selection is an important method for livestock breeding. In recent years, this technology has been gradually applied to livestock breeding to improve the body conformation traits. In this study, the LRRC8B (Leucine Rich Repeat Containing 8 VRAC Subunit B) gene was selected to evaluate the association between its genetic variations and the body conformation traits in two native sheep breeds in China. Four body conformation traits, including withers height, body length, chest circumference, and body weight, were collected from 269 Chaka sheep. We also collected the body length, chest width, withers height, chest depth, chest circumference, cannon bone circumference, and height at hip cross of 149 Small-Tailed Han sheep. Two different genotypes, ID and DD, were detected in all sheep. Our data showed that the polymorphism of the LRRC8B gene was significantly associated with chest depth (p < 0.05) in Small-Tailed Han sheep, and it is greater in sheep with DD than those with ID. In conclusion, our data suggested that the LRRC8B gene could serve as a candidate gene for marker-assisted selection in Small-Tailed Han sheep. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agriculture is the foundation of the national economy, and agricultural nonpoint source pollution and carbon emissions are the main environmental problems limiting the development of the agricultural economy. This study takes the Yangtze River Delta as the research object and measures agricultural carbon emissions and nonpoint source pollution in the study area from 2010 to 2020 respectively. The Tapio decoupling model is used to study types of decoupling between agricultural pollution and carbon reduction and economic growth in the Yangtze River Delta from 2010 to 2020, and the GM (1,1) model is used to predict the decoupling relationship between the agricultural environment and economic growth over the next ten years. The results show the following: (1) Agricultural COD emissions come mainly from livestock and poultry breeding, dropped from 1,130,120 tons in 2010 to 908,460 tons in 2020. Agricultural TN and TP emissions come mainly from plantations. Agricultural TN emissions dropped from 892,310 tons in 2010 to 788,020 tons in 2020. Agricultural TP emissions dropped from 149,590 tons in 2010 to130,770 tons in 2020. Agricultural carbon emissions dropped from 17,115,900 tons in 2010 to 15,786,600 tons in 2020, and come mainly from agricultural fertilizer and diesel fuel and pig breeding. (2) The decoupling effect of agricultural pollution reduction and carbon reduction in the Yangtze River Delta and economic growth has been in a long-term state, with negative decoupling occurring in a few regions, mainly in 2011, 2014 and 2020. (3) In the next ten years, except for 2021, when the coordination between agricultural pollution reduction and economic growth is poor, the two show good decoupling in the remaining years. Based on the results, this study makes recommendations on how to carry out comprehensive environmental management and promote green agricultural development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental water pollution has become one of the key factors that constrain the development of urban and rural areas in China. However, the identification of high-risk priority control regions and the development of control schemes for the total amount of water pollutants still lack systematic studies. In this study, the risk prevention potential index of residents, the government, and enterprises was incorporated to construct a comprehensive water environmental risk evaluation system based on the“pressure-state-response”and to identify the risk control levels of each control unit. On this basis, a multi-objective waste load allocation model was constructed, and a water pollutant load（NH3-N）distribution scheme was constructed in Hongya County, Sichuan Province, China. The results showed that Hongchuan Town and Yuping Town, located in the lower reaches of the Qingyi River, were high-risk control units. Hongchuan Town was significantly affected by industrial wastewater discharge, while Yuping Town was jointly affected by large-scale livestock and poultry breeding, as well as industrial wastewater discharge. According to the comprehensive optimal distribution scheme, the reduction rates of ammonia nitrogen in Hongchuan Town and Yuping Town were 19.7% and 18.9%, respectively, while the total reduction rate in Hongya County was 16.3%. This study not only achieves fair and efficient reduction of water pollutants in each control unit, but also obtains a higher regional total reduction rate, which can provide a scientific reference for regional water environment management strategy formulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Kadsura coccinea was planted in large quantities in south China in recent years, and its functions and effects need to be further studied and discovered. We had previously found that Kadsura coccinea fruit extract has anti-diarrhea effects on mice, so we want to explore its influence on broiler breeding. The result showed that added 200 mg/kg Kadsura coccinea fruit extract to basic feed can replace traditional antibiotics as a growth promoter. It can improve the growth, slaughter performance, and antioxidant and regulate intestinal microorganisms of broilers, which indicated that the Kadsura coccinea fruit extract is feasible as a feed additive. This study aimed to determine whether adding Kadsura coccinea fruit extract to the diet of broilers could replace antibiotics. For this study, 300 one-day-old AA white feathered broilers were divided into five groups (no sex separated), with six repetitions per group (n = 10), as follows: blank control group (basal feed, CK group), positive drug (basal feed + 300 mg/kg aureomycin, PD group), and Kadsura coccinea low-dose, medium-dose, and high-dose groups (basal feed + 100 mg/kg, 200 mg/kg, and 300 mg/kg of Kadsura coccinea fruit extract, LD group, MD group and HD group). The experiment period was divided into early (1–21 days) and late (22–42 days) stage. We found that supplementation with Kadsura coccinea fruit extract in the diet significantly improved the growth performance of broilers (p < 0.05), reduced the feed to meat ratio (p < 0.05), reduced the fat percentage (p < 0.05), while had no significant effect on meat quality (p > 0.05) and Kadsura coccinea fruit extract could promote the development of immune organs to different extents, enhance antioxidant capacity, the contents of SOD and GSH-Px in serum were significantly increased (p < 0.05), improve the ratio of villus height to crypt depth. Finally, Kadsura coccinea fruit extract increased the relative abundance of probiotics and beneficial bacteria (Bacteroidales, NK4A214, Subdoligranulum and Eubacterium hallii) (p < 0.05) and reduced the relative abundance of harmful bacteria (Erysipelatoclostridium) (p < 0.05) in the gut of broilers. Compared with positive drug group, most of the indexes in the medium-dose group were better or had similar effects. We believe that Kadsura coccinea fruit extract can be used as a potential natural antibiotic substitute in livestock and poultry breeding programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Parasite (1252607X) is the property of EDP Sciences and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Journal of Agricultural Science & Technology (1008-0864) is the property of Journal of Agricultural Science & Technology and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Simple Summary: This study investigated the family structure, parent–child pair and inbreeding coefficient of a Tan sheep breeding farm in Ningxia, China. The results can be used as the theoretical basis for selecting excellent breeding stock and making an apposite mating plan; furthermore, it can provide an important scientific basis for the conservation and reproduction of Tan sheep germplasm resources. Tan sheep is a special breed of locally protected sheep in China, one of the best quality meat sheep in the world. Due to the unclear pedigree of the rams on the Ningxia Tan sheep breeding farm, we investigated 74 rams in the field and explored a new method for family division. Genomic DNA was extracted from the blood of breeding rams. Using Plink software, GCTA tools and R language, we analyzed the genetic structure, kinship, and inbreeding coefficient of the breeding sheep, which revealed the genetic relationship between the individuals. The results showed that there was no obvious clustering phenomenon in the PCA, and the genetic background of the samples was similar. The G matrix and IBS distance matrix indicated that most individuals were far away from each other. Paternity testing identified 24 pairs of unknown parent–child pairs, and all the Tan sheep could be divided into 12 families, which provided a reference for sheep breeding. The average inbreeding coefficient based on the ROH of this population was 0.049, so there was a low degree of inbreeding and the rams in the field were able to maintain high genetic diversity. Overall, we explored a more accurate method through paternity and kinship analysis; it provides a scientific basis for pedigree construction, which has an important application value for Tan sheep breeding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As an emerging environmental pollutant, antibiotic resistance genes seriously threaten human health and animal safety. The problem of antibiotic resistant bacteria directly related to antibiotic resistance genes has become the focus of environmental and medical fields globally. Livestock and poultry breeding is central to economic development and agricultural modernization in China; however, it is also a significant source of antibiotic resistance genes. Thus, the rational utilization of livestock and poultry manure is crucial for agricultural green development in China. The key to rational manure utilization is to clearly understand the behavior and environmental fate of antibiotic resistance genes in the process of utilizing livestock manure. This study is based on a brief discussion on the resource utilization of livestock and poultry manure. We focused on vermicomposting and summarized the emission characteristics, environmental behavior, and driving factors of antibiotic resistance gene pollution during the vermicomposting process. Further, we put forward suggestions and opportunities for the prevention and control of antibiotic resistance gene pollution in the whole manure utilization process of “Animal feces–Vermicomposting–Returning”. Our study may provide a reference for the safe utilization of livestock and poultry manure and promote the green development of agriculture in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China has extensive livestock and poultry industries with substantial production and use of veterinary antibacterials. The longterm and massive use of veterinary antibacterials causes environmental pollution, increases bacterial resistance, and elevates safety risks for livestock, poultry, and agricultural products, further threatening human health. In this paper, we review the use of veterinary antibacterials in livestock and poultry breeding from 2009 to 2019 in China. The characteristics of the usage of veterinary antibacterials were analyzed. The findings show that the proportion of consumption of veterinary antibacterials in veterinary chemicals was 69.6%~74.1%. The utilization of veterinary antibacterials reached a maximum in 2014, and then decreased yearly. The main types of veterinary antibacterials are tetracycline, chlortetracycline, and oxytetracycline; chlortetracycline and oxytetracycline are mainly used to promote growth. Furthermore, the analysis of the antibiotics residue in different foods showed that the detection rates of antibiotics in milk, cultured fish, and vegetables were as high as 90.9%~100%. The average residue of quinolone in cultured fish was 725.13 μg·kg-1, which exceeds the national food safety limit standard (100 μg·kg-1). Additionally, we summarize the situation of antibiotic residues in the environment and the emergence and mechanism of bacterial resistance. The effects of the massive use of antibiotics on animal and human health are discussed. Ultimately, management suggestions and strategies on the prevention of antibiotics pollution are proposed in terms of source, use, emission, and remediation to help control antibiotic pollution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China is under great pressure for livestock-related environmental degradation, as evidenced by the rising regional manure-N surplus and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The coupling of crop planting and livestock breeding (CPLB) has become the common practice to address this issue. However, the current CPLB coupling considers only the relationship between livestock manure-N supply and crop-N demand, it could not reflect the greater mitigation potential through optimizing spatial distribution and structure of livestock. Here, we attempted to assess the CPLB coupling status in 2020 and its trajectory for 2030 to achieve multi-objectives: minimizing manure-N surplus, mitigating GHG emissions, and enhancing regional livestock product self-sufficiency, based on governmental nationwide survey data. The results indicated that: (1) The estimated cropland carrying capacity of breeding livestock for the years 2020 and 2030 were 0.52 and 0.55, but the associated manure-N surplus were 0.71 and 0.88 Tg, which indicated that there was a spatial mismatch between livestock and cropland. Therefore, it was necessary to optimize the distribution of livestock from a national perspective. (2) The optimal scenarios that allocated livestock breeding capacity across provinces based on crop-N demand (CND), food demand of residents (FDR) and GHG emissions mitigation requirement (GER) reduced manure-N surplus to 0 Tg, 1.29 Tg, and 0.88 Tg, and mitigated the GHG emissions by 1.49% (7.88 Tg), 6.80% (35.94 Tg), and 14.91% (78.78 Tg), respectively. (3) The spatial redistribution in terms of multi-objective optimal scenario (MOO) that comprehensively balanced regional crop-N demand, livestock product self-sufficiency, and GHG mitigation from multiple stages of livestock breeding, manure management, and transport processes could not only eliminate the manure-N surplus but also mitigate GHG emissions by 17%. Therefore, optimizing CPLB coupling through spatial reallocation and structural adjustment of livestock breeding based on crop, diet, and livestock species would provide a scientific basis for developing livestock-related environmental protection policies in China. [Display omitted] • Manure-N surplus, CCCBL and livestock-related GHG was 0.88 Tg, 0.55 and 528 Tg in 2030. • Livestock-crop spatial mismatch requires inter-provincial distribution optimization. • Optimizing CPLB coupling to balance manure-N, GHG and livestock self-sufficiency. • Multi-objective scenario (MOO) eliminated manure-N surplus and mitigate GHG by 17%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Embryo cryopreservation is an important part of embryo biotechnology. It plays a key role in the development of quality animal husbandry. However, the effect of in-vivo (in-vitro) embryo freezing of cattle and sheep in China has not reached an expected level, which limits the commercial application of embryo transfer technology. The technical bottleneck that needs to be broken through is that embryos are subject to mechanical damage and protective agent toxicity during freezing and thawing. This paper summarized the successful application of plant antifreeze protein in vitrification preservation of pig embryos, which makes this technology widely used in animal husbandry production, and is of great significance in accelerating the large-scale breeding of improved livestock and saving endangered animals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The previous literatures have insufficient content on spatial dependence and heterogeneity of agricultural carbon emissions (ACEs), which is inconsistent with the actual situation, weakening the practical significance of research conclusions. To fill this knowledge gap, this study attempts to explore the spatial evolution pattern of ACEs at the city-scale in the Fujian Province of China from spatio-temporal latitudes and adopts the exploratory spatial data analysis method (ESDA) to analyze the spatial correlation effects of ACEs. The findings revealed that ACEs in Fujian show a downtrend as a whole. From the perspective of carbon sources of ACEs, agricultural materials and livestock breeding caused the largest emissions, accounting for 73.82% of the total ACEs, while rice growth led to the smallest carbon emissions, accounting for 26.18% of the total ACEs. We also found that there is obvious non-equilibrium in the spatial distribution of ACEs and their intensity, showing a strong spatial correlation; and although a relatively obvious clustering area has been formed, the spatial autocorrelation of most regions is not significant. Accordingly, we suggest that exploring the "carbon compensation mechanism", is conducive to stimulating the low-carbon agricultural production behavior with positive externalities, to reduce agricultural carbon emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Freshwater aquaculture has a long and vibrant tradition in China. The Chinese longsnout catfish (Leiocassis longirostris) is a popular economic freshwater fish native to China. Understanding the genetic structure of L. longirostris populations is important for ensuring the efficacy of management practices and the sustainability of future increases in production. In this study, we used Illumina sequencing technology to isolate 20 novel polymorphic microsatellites from the genome of L. longirostris. These microsatellites were used to analyze the genetic diversity of 240 L. longrostris individuals from four populations. Genetic diversity parameters (NA, HO, HE, I, PIC, and FST) of the four farmed L. longirostris populations were analyzed. The level of genetic differentiation among the four farmed L. longirostris populations (inferred by pairwise comparisons of FST values) was low, but the genetic diversity of these populations was high, indicating that they still provide useful sources of genetic variation that could aid in breeding efforts. The STRUCTURE and ADMIXTURE analyses indicated that admixture might be occurring in the four L. longirostris populations, especially between the MS and YB populations. Understanding the genetic diversity of farmed L. longirostris populations and inbreeding prevention could greatly aid in breeding and production. These newly isolated microsatellite markers and the high genetic diversity of L. longirostris populations in the main breeding areas have important implications for the breeding and stock management of L. longirostris. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agricultural materials input (fertilizer and pesticide, etc.), together with straw burning, rice planting, and livestock breeding, constitute the sources of agricultural greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. However, most related studies have discussed the total amount of agricultural GHG emissions or the role of straw burning and rice planting in agricultural GHG emissions and few studies on agricultural GHG emissions from Agricultural materials. Based on the data of 31 provinces in China from 2003 to 2018, this paper explored the evolution process of agricultural GHG emissions from Agricultural materials. Our research turned up some interesting findings. For example, firstly, Agricultural materials play an increasingly important role in agricultural GHG emissions. Agricultural GHG emissions due to Agricultural materials account for an increasing proportion of the total agricultural GHG emissions. Secondly, there are regional differences in the evolution trend of agricultural GHG emissions caused by agricultural materials. Especially after the urbanization rate broke through the critical line of 50% around 2010 in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A large number of livestock and poultry breeding were distributed in the suburbs, brought a strong environmental pressure to the cities. The issue of whether livestock and poultry breeding could be carried out in the suburbs was a key controversy in the present. To address this question, this study constructed an index system of suitability evaluation of spatial layout of intensive pig farms, calculated the average surface temperature from June to September, and obtained potential intensive pig farms in Nanyu Town. Combing above results and area index results of cultivated land spatial matched with intensive pig farm, spatial relation between cultivated land and potential intensive pig farm was built, the optimum potential intensive pig farm in Nanyu Town was determined, and its carrying capacity was calculated. Results showed that livestock and poultry breeding could be carried out in the suburbs. A total of 3403 and 3253 pieces of cultivated lands occupying 52.01% and 49.67% of the total cultivated lands had a spatial relation between potential intensive pig farms taking N and P as indices, respectively. Moreover, 14 and 15 potential intensive pig farms taking N and P as indices, respectively, in Nanyu Town were determined as optimum potential intensive pig farms. Results also indicated that most of the optimum potential intensive pig farms were suitable for constructing small- and medium-sized pig farms. Results would provide scientific basis for the planning of spatial arrangement of livestock and poultry breeding and the suburb environmental pollution control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scholars have turned their attention to the ecological protection and high-quality development of China's Yellow River Basin in recent years. The basin is a major agricultural production area in China, hence investigating agricultural carbon emission reduction strategies in the basin is crucial. The research object in this article is the agricultural departments of China's nine provinces in the Yellow River Basin from 2005 to 2018. Agricultural carbon emissions are measured using agricultural land usage, rice planting, crop planting, straw burning, and livestock breeding as agricultural carbon sources. In addition, the GTWR model is used to examine the spatiotemporal aspects of the impact of five factors on agricultural carbon emissions in this paper. The findings reveal that the five factors have varying degrees and directions of influence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Agricultural Science & Technology (1008-0864) is the property of Journal of Agricultural Science & Technology and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

China's livestock output has been growing, but domestic livestock products such as beef, mutton and pork have been unable to meet domestic consumers' demands. The imbalance between supply and demand causes unstable livestock prices and affects profits on livestock. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to provide the optimal breeding strategy for livestock farmers to maximize profits and adjust the balance between supply and demand. Firstly, when the price changes, livestock farmers will respond in two ways: by not adjusting the scale of livestock with the price or adjusting the scale with the price. Therefore, combining the model of price and the behavior of livestock farmers, two livestock breeding models were established. Secondly, we proposed four optimal breeding strategies based on the previously studied models and the main research method is Pontryagin's Maximum Principle. Optimal breeding strategies are achieved by controlling the growth and output of livestock. Further, their existence was verified. Finally, we simulated two situations and found the most suitable strategy for both situations by comparing profits of four strategies. From that, we obtained several conclusions: The optimal strategy under constant prices is not always reasonable. The effect of price on livestock can promote a faster balance. To get more profits, the livestock farmers should adjust the farm's productivity reasonably. It is necessary to calculate the optimal strategy results under different behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Manure slurry is a mixture of urine, feces, flushing water, and disinfectant in the livestock and poultry breeding industry. About two billion tons of manure slurry can be produced in China every year. Among them, the composition varies greatly, due to the complex sources. There are many influencing factors on the composition of manure slurry, such as the seasons, regions, breeding scale, fecal cleaning, and manure slurry treatment. Currently, the fixed composition value cannot accurately be calculated the amount of manure slurry, when returning to the field. Therefore, it is urgent to develop an accurate, and rapid detection system suitable for the compositions in the manure slurry on site. Fortunately, Near-Infrared (NIR) spectroscopy can offer a great potential to detect manure composition at present. Nevertheless, most reports were usually focused on the near-infrared spectrometer at the large-scale laboratory level. This kind of instrument can be confined to the application of near-infrared spectroscopy analysis in fields, due to the large bulk volume, low portability, and high price. The near-infrared spectrometer can be further developed towards the miniaturization for the technical and cost feasibility during on-site detection, particularly with the development of Micro-Electromechanical Systems (MEMS) and Micro-Opto-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MOEMS) in recent years. In addition to the need for a stable and reliable hardware system, the calibration model is another important application premise of near-infrared technology. But, there is a great challenge to establish the calibration model using cloud sharing technology. It is very necessary to access the shared resources via the various data computing services anytime, anywhere, and on-demand through the Internet. In this study, a micro NIR onsite and rapid system was proposed to detect the composition of manure slurry during field return using a calibration model under cloud sharing. A complete function was also achieved for the data acquisition, upload, prediction and storage at the same time, according to the design scheme of "micro NIR sensor + calibration model cloud sharing + Android client + mobile network". The micro NIR sensor was first used to collect the spectral data of the measured sample, then to transmit the data into the Android client through the Bluetooth protocol, and finally to the cloud server through the mobile network. A calibration model was deployed in the cloud server to calculate the received spectral data. A quantitative prediction was obtained to further send back to the Android client in real time. A rapid detection was realized for the ten parameters of manure slurry compositions, such as the Total Nitrogen (TN), Total Phosphorus (TP), Total Potassium (TK), ammonium nitrogen (NH4 +-N), nitrate nitrogen (NO3 --N), amide nitrogen (CONH2-N), Available Phosphorus (AP), Available Potassium (AK), Organic Matter (OM), and pH value. The prediction relative errors of AK, TN, AP, TP, pH, NH4 +-N, and TK in the manure slurry were less than 10%, and the rest of OM, CONH2-N, and NO3 --N were between 10%-18%. Consequently, the micro NIR technology combined with the calibration model in cloud sharing can be expected to realize the onsite, rapid and accurate detection of various compositions in the manure slurry, particularly for the full sharing of the quantitative model. Moreover, the broad market prospect can be gained for the practical application, due to the portable micro NIR sensor, the simple operation of the Android client, and the lower cost of the system. There is also no need for the professional requirements of the users in the cloud sharing of the calibration model. The finding can provide data support for the high precision return of manure slurry to the field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]