Abstract:

From the perspective of agricultural ethics， there is a complementary and win-win relationship between sourcing food from cropland and sourcing food from grassland through forage for animal production. Focusing on Chapter 2， “Farmland Protection，” of the Food Security Law promulgated in 2023， it is believed that farmland protection is not about preserving area only， but also about preserving water， soil， fertilizer， diverse planting practices， and the diversity of agricultural systems. In this study， a combination of several research methods including a literature review， field research， and case studies， was used to understand the interaction between the rigid constraints of resources such as cultivated land area and quality， structural problems relating to the unsuitability of particular land areas for crop planting， and the unsustainable expectation of continuous incremental increase in crop yields over time. Achievements have been made in scientific research， and in policies to improve cultivated land and increase the amount of reserve land， through diversified planting of food crops of various kinds and forages. Six counties in the Yellow River Basin were selected for surveys of food and forage crop rotation and replanting. Various categories of farm system were studied， including： systems with two crops per year， intercropping of different species， and mixed food crop and silage production. Three commonly practiced farming systems were taken as case studies： alternate-row mixed cropping of food and forage plants， broadcast-sown mixed food and forage species crops， and monoculture forage crops. Our results indicate that changes in the patterns and technology of crop and forage planting are the key to changes in future organization of the agricultural sector. Especially after the annual grain yield reaches the food safety threshold of 400 kg per person， higher grain production targets should not be pursued， but instead the “forage for animal production” strategy should be implemented in a timely manner to protect farmland. A focus on forage production for animal husbandry is more conducive to enhanced agricultural ethics outcomes and represents an innovative application of ethics in plant production. It is recommended to separately calculate the planting of human food and animal forage crops， and to develop a diversified planting model for these two categories of crops， according to local conditions.

Key words: sourcing food from cropland, sourcing food from grassland, protection of farmland, food security, agricultural ethics