Rice Genomics and Genetics 2025, Vol.16, No.5, 267-281 http://cropscipublisher.com/index.php/rgg 272 The rice-duck produced by the farming model usually feeds on natural bait in the field. The meat is firm and delicious. Consumers believe that it is more flavorful than caged ducks, and the market price is about 30% higher than ordinary duck meat. Rice-duck farming achieves the production of "double excellence and double high" rice and duck meat, which helps to improve people's dietary nutrition structure and organically combines staple rice with poultry protein. From the perspective of nutritional ingredients, studies have found that the content of certain trace elements such as selenium and zinc in rice-duck rice is slightly higher than that in conventional rice, which may be related to organic fertilizers and biological symbiotic environments. The absence of pesticides also allows rice to retain its own natural aromatic substances, improving the taste quality. Rice-duck farming indirectly improves the quality and nutritional value of rice by creating a pollution-free growth environment and rich nutrient supply. At the same time, the rice-duck meat produced also provides the market with green and healthy animal food. This is of great significance for meeting consumers' demand for high-quality agricultural products and increasing the added value of agricultural products. 4 Ecological Benefits from Reduced Inputs and Pollution 4.1 Decreased use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides One of the ecological benefits of the rice-duck co-cultivation system is that it significantly reduces the frequency of chemical fertilizer and pesticide application. In traditional rice cultivation, multiple applications of nitrogen fertilizers and spraying of pesticides are often required to prevent and control pests and diseases in order to ensure yield. In the rice-duck symbiotic model, since duck manure can partially replace chemical fertilizers and duck control of insects and weeds can reduce the use of pesticides, the dependence of rice fields on external chemical inputs is greatly reduced. Studies have shown that after adopting rice-duck co-cultivation, the number of rice fertilization and pesticide spraying per season can be reduced by 20%-50%. The experimental evidence of Du et al. (2023) is particularly typical: by introducing ducks to achieve rice-duck regeneration rice in two seasons, while maintaining rice yield, the use of pesticides was reduced by 88%, the use of chemical fertilizers was reduced by 15%, and there was no uncontrolled pests or soil nutrient deficiency. The rice-duck farming ecological model can effectively reduce the total amount of nitrogen fertilizer and pesticide input per mu of rice field, which helps to reduce the pressure of agricultural non-point source pollution. The direct benefit of the reduction of chemical input is the reduction of farmers' production costs. According to the practice of Xingqing Family Farm in Deqing, the cost of rice planting per mu has been reduced by about 17.6% due to the non-application of pesticides (Figure 1). At the same time, the less application of chemical fertilizers also saves certain expenses. Reducing input while ensuring food output is an important manifestation of green agricultural efficiency (Guo and Fu, 2024). Figure 1 Rice-duck farming reduces pesticide dependence and builds a new model of ecological rice fields (Photographed by Yuchao Shen)
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