Impacts of Small-Scale Industrialized Swine Farming on Local Soil, Water and Crop Qualities in a Hilly Red Soil Region of Subtropical China

Di Zhang, Xingxiang Wang and Zhigao Zhou
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Di Zhang: School of Environmental Science, Nanjing Xiaozhuang University, Nanjing 211171, China
Xingxiang Wang: Key Laboratory of Soil Environment and Pollution Remediation, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China
Zhigao Zhou: Key Laboratory of Soil Environment and Pollution Remediation, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China

IJERPH, 2017, vol. 14, issue 12, 1-17

Abstract: Industrialized small-scale pig farming has been rapidly developed in developing regions such as China and Southeast Asia, but the environmental problems accompanying pig farming have not been fully recognized. This study investigated 168 small-scale pig farms and 29 example pig farms in Yujiang County of China to examine current and potential impacts of pig wastes on soil, water and crop qualities in the hilly red soil region, China. The results indicated that the small-scale pig farms produced considerable annual yields of wastes, with medians of 216, 333 and 773 ton yr ?1 per pig farm for manure, urine and washing wastewater, respectively, which has had significant impact on surface water quality. Taking NH 4 + -N, total nitrogen (TN) or total phosphorus (TP) as a criterion to judge water quality, the proportions of Class III and below Class III waters in the local surface waters were 66.2%, 78.7% and 72.5%. The well water (shallow groundwater) quality near these pig farms met the water quality standards by a wide margin. The annual output of pollutants from pig farms was the most important factor correlated with the nutrients and heavy metals in soils, and the relationship can be described by a linear equation. The impact on croplands was marked by the excessive accumulation of available phosphorus and heavy metals such as Cu and Zn. For crop safety, the over-limit ratio of Zn in vegetable samples reached 60%, other heavy metals in vegetable and rice samples tested met the food safety standard at present.

Keywords: small-scale pig farming; water pollution; P accumulation; heavy metal accumulation; crop safety (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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