Research on the Feces-Bearing Capacity of the Farmland in Anhui Province of China

Anhui is a typical province with rich produced agriculture in the south of China, which is economically typical among those less developed provinces in the central and western regions of China. Therefore, study on the feces loads of farmland in the province is significant for guidance of the central and western regions. This study investigated the fecal pollution loads of farmland resulting from farming of Anhui Province. The results indicated that the average annual livestock feces exertion was 59.59 million tons during 2006–2010, which was equivalent to 282,000 tons of N and 111,500 tons of P. And the results for human feces of rural residents were 23.84 million tons, 143,000 tons and 48,600 tons, respectively. The five-year average loads of feces, feces-derived N and P loads were 20.20 thm–2, 102.91 kghm–2 and 38.76 kghm–2, respectively. There were respectively 22.1%, 13.0% and 63.6% of the total counties exceeding the corresponding loads bearing limits of feces, N and P. The average P loads of the whole province surpassed the limit for 10.7%. In conclusion, the loads of feces and N of farmland were high, and some areas were in pollution of feces and N, while most areas were in pollution of P, which must be controlled as soon as possible.