Why did "Beidacang" need to return farmland to "barren land"?

In the last century, our country began to transform Beidahuang, turning Beidahuang into Beidacang. But now our country is gradually returning Beidacang to farmland and returning it to wasteland. What is going on?

Why did Beidacang need to be abandoned?

In the last century, my country's political stability and medical conditions had made great progress compared with before, which led to an increase in the birth rate and a decrease in the death rate. The total keeps rising. In my country's first national census in 1953, the total population at that time was calculated to be 542 million. But by 1974, our country's total population exceeded 900 million.

Malthus once pointed out in his work "On Population" that when the external environment is suitable, the population will increase exponentially, but the energy that the population depends on for survival can only increase arithmetic. If corresponding measures are not taken, one day the energy will not be able to meet the needs of the growing population. By then, there may be famines, wars, etc. to passively reduce the population.

In order to meet the needs of the growing population, our country has proposed a strategy to develop the Great Northern Wilderness. At the beginning, the Great Northern Wilderness did provide a lot of food for our country. However, the consequences of human over-exploitation of nature have gradually been exposed.

We know that there are many small lakes and wetlands in Beidahuang. These small lakes and wetlands are equivalent to natural reservoirs. When a flood occurs, they will share the flood from the river and prevent serious flooding in the local area. Disaster; in normal times, the water levels in these lakes will drop, waiting for the next flood to fill them up again.

After the development of Beidahuang, these natural lakes lost their role in regulating floods. Therefore, once a local flood breaks out, the lower-lying land will be completely submerged, causing serious economic losses to the local area.

In addition, these lakes and wetlands support many animals, such as red-crowned cranes. As lakes and wetlands disappear, so do their native organisms.

Also, due to human development of wasteland for food, local soil erosion has also increased. In the past, Beidahuang had a lot of forest vegetation, which could firmly protect the land from wind erosion and rain. When Beidahuang became Beidacang, the soil-fixing ability of crops decreased, causing serious soil and water loss in the area. According to Zhou Lianren of Northeast Agricultural University, it takes at least 400 years to form 1 cm of topsoil in black soil areas. If it is no longer protected, the black soil layer will be completely lost in 50 years at the current rate. According to data from the Heilongjiang Water Conservancy Bureau, approximately 1.4 million acres of land in the province has disappeared due to soil erosion.

In addition, the vegetation in Beidahuang used to be equivalent to a "water storage tank." According to Professor Chen Xiangwei of Northeast Forestry University, every 15 acres of mature forestland can conserve 3,300 tons of water.

The water in these plants will also participate in the atmospheric water cycle, transporting the water in the plants to the atmosphere through evaporation and other methods, and then falling as rainfall. After Beidahuang became Beidacang, the water storage energy of local vegetation decreased, which also reduced the water vapor in the local air, resulting in less local rainfall and exacerbating the occurrence of drought.

Also, the development of the Great Northern Wilderness has also reduced the number of local organisms. Some species that once lived here have disappeared, such as the Siberian tiger.

In other words, due to our over-exploitation, Beidahuang began to launch a series of "revenge" on us. In order to protect them, and to protect ourselves, we must return farmland to forests and grasslands in the Great Northern Wilderness.

Furthermore, the emergence of modern agriculture in our country has caused the yield per mu to hit new highs repeatedly. This also enables us to produce enough energy to meet people's needs even if we return farmland to forests and grasslands.

How to return farmland to forests and grasslands?

Converting farmland to forest and grassland is inseparable from the support of the local government and the participation of the people. Many people think that returning farmland to forest and grassland only requires planting trees and grass, but this is not the case.

First of all, returning farmland to forest does not mean returning all the land in the Great Northern Wilderness to farmland. Instead, it converts land such as lakeside and riverside into forests and grasslands. It is carried out in areas that are not suitable for farming, have degraded soil fertility, and have serious soil erosion. After returning to farmland, some areas with fertile soil still retain the function of cultivated land.

Also, the type of trees to be planted, the abundance of the trees, and the density of trees to be planted in the same area must be taken into consideration. This is because different types of trees have different demands for land energy. If the trees planted are all energy-intensive trees, it will aggravate the occurrence of local drought.

Secondly, many farmers are unwilling to return farmland to forests due to economic reasons. At this time, the government must do a good job in resettling farmers, such as: compensation, development of tourism, development of characteristic economy, etc.

Furthermore, converting farmland to forest is an investment that will take many years to see benefits. When converting farmland to forest, a long-term strategy must be formulated and cannot be abandoned halfway.

The most important thing is that after returning farmland to forests and grasslands, continuous protection must be carried out, such as preventing forest fires and preventing illegal felling of trees. Otherwise, people's efforts will be in vain.

Summary

From an energy perspective, although the Great Northern Wilderness once contributed a lot of food to our country, now we have chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and higher-quality seeds, making Mu Yield has doubled, so even if we convert part of the land into forest, we can still meet the energy needs of our population.

From the perspective of ecological environment, returning farmland to Beidahuang can significantly improve the ecological environment and increase biological species diversity.

It is precisely because of this that converting farmland into forests not only does no harm to our country, but also has many benefits.