Maoist Internationalist Movement

Chinese communists fought pollution as soon as they came to power in 1949

[MC5 comments: Without the profit motive in China, the government had no 
motive to cover up pollution and instead sought to measure efficiency by steps 
toward 100% recycling. The article below shows that already in 1962, the 
Chinese communists were more than a decade ahead of the people in charge of 
companies in the West.

When a case of pollution arose, there was no profit-motivated cover-up. There 
was scientific and collective action to undo the damage instead. Meanwhile, in 
the West, the topic of pollution fighting was still the prerogative of intellectuals 
with neither government nor corporate power and with McCarthyist anti-
communism in the air in the 1950s, we can be sure the Chinese message did not 
get much play in the United $tates. However, the message did get into China's 
leading daily newspaper as reprinted below.]

"Use Waste Water from Industrial Plants to Irrigate Rice Fields"
Communist Party of China
People's Daily
5 July 1962

The organic and inorganic contents of waste water from industrial plants vary in 
quantity, depending upon the nature of the plants. The most harmful industrial 
waste water is that which contains phenol. This constitutes the largest amount of 
industrial waste water. The waste water from coke plants, oil refineries, coal gas 
factories, and other chemical plants belong to this type, and contain various 
quantities of phenol compounds, petroleum, and sulfates. If this kind of 
poisonous industrial water is drained into a body of water (such as a river, lake, 
or sea) before treatment, it will pollute the water, kill the fish, and endanger the 
health of the people. If such polluted water is put to industrial use, it will cause 
erosion to machinery, and adversely affect industrial production. And if such 
poisonous waste water is drained into the farmland, it will badly affect the 
normal growth of the crops. For instance, fish have disappeared in the Hun 
River in Liaoning Province after it is polluted by the waste water from the oil 
refinery at Fu-shun. Not only so, fish has greatly decreased in the lower reaches 
of the Liao River. The peasants of Li-shih-chai, Fu-shun Municipality, who used 
the polluted Han River water to irrigate their rice fields, reaped an average of 
less than 300 chin of rice per "mou" (the unit "mou" used here corresponds to 
1,000 square meters, or 1.5 shih mou--a traditional measure used by peasants in 
Manchuria) during the ten years from 1939 to 1949. Before the Hun River was 
polluted, their average harvest was about 500 chin per mou.

After the liberation [revolution of 1949--MC5], the peasants of Li-shih-chai 
reviewed the lesson of the low yield during the above-mentioned ten year period 
caused by lodging and the rice heat disease, which were in turn caused by 
irrigation of the rice fields by industrial waste water. They adopted a number of 
measures which turned decrease in yield into increase in yield. In 1958, the per 
mou yield of the paddy rice fields increased to 810 chin, as compared with 290 
chin prior to 1949. However, lodging still happened in fields where polluted 
water was used. In 1957, lodging occurred on 65.6 percent of the total paddy 
rice fields and the average per mou yield was only around 400 chin. This fact 
explains that the prevention of lodging was an urgent problem to be solved for 
rice fields irrigated by polluted water.

The Forestry and Soil Research Institute of Academia Sinica started in 1959 a 
research project on the effect of using the waste water from the Fu-shun 
Petroleum Refinery to irrigate rice fields.

The institute obtained the following results in the last three years with the 
cooperation of various units:

The composition of industrial waste water containing phenol is very 
complicated. It contains elements useful to crops, as well as elements harmful to 
crops. The elements which are known to be useful to crops include organic 
nitrogen, nitrogen in the form of ammonia, and a certain kind of organic 
stimulating matter, while the main harmful elements are phenol compounds, 
petroleum and sulfates. If the latter are controlled within a certain limit, the 
useful elements will show a maximum effect of increasing production. The 
occurrence of lodging or heat disease was mainly attributable to the improper 
proportion between harmful and useful elements in the waste water.

In the past, people mixed a certain amount of industrial waste water with pure 
water for irrigation. But the composition of the industrial waste water varies 
greatly because of rainfall and the different operations in the plants. During the 
same crop growth period, the concentration of nitrogen in ammonia state may 
vary from 5 to 30 mg/liter. Therefore, the desired result cannot be obtained by 
mixing waste water with clean water at a definite ratio. Some people used the 
amount of harmful elements, such as sulfates, phenol compounds, and 
petroleum, as a guide in the use of industrial water, but they overlooked the 
effect of the useful elements in the waste water. As a result, they could not find a 
definite relation between agricultural production and the amount of industrial 
waste water to be used.

According to the results of our experiments at Li-shih-chai in the last three 
years, the waste water used on farms generally contains 5-30 mg (mostly 10-12 
mg) of nitrogen in ammonia state, 20-30 mg of sulfates, 30-50 mg of phenol 
(volatile and involatile phenol), and 10-20 mg of petroleum per liter. In 
industrial waste waters which contain phenol compounds, there is a definite 
relationship among phenol, petroleum and sulfate contents. It has been primarily 
decided that in calculating the amount of waste water to be used for irrigation, 
the nitrogen content in ammonia form is used as the main index, while the 
contents of phenols, petroleum, and sulfates are used as reference indices. 
Before irrigating the field, the total amount of nitrogen in ammonia form in the 
water is determined. During the whole growth period of paddy rice, the 
cumulated total amount of nitrogen in the state of ammonia per mou is regarded 
as the "nitrogen fertilization norm," which is converted into ammonium sulfate 
for calculation.

Three years of field experiments show that the number of paddy rice plants and 
the height of these plants are noticeably increased as the "nitrogen fertilization 
norm" is increased, and that the weight of the ears and the weight of 1,000 
grains of rice reach a maximum when the "nitrogen fertilization norm" is at 100 
shih chin per mou. Beyond this norm, the weight of the ears and that of 1,000 
grains of rice will reduce. There is also a definite relationship between the 
development of the root system of paddy rice and the "nitrogen fertilization 
norm." As the "nitrogen fertilization norm" is increased, the dry matter in the 
root system is increased and more widely distributed. But when the "nitrogen 
fertilization norm" goes up above 150 shih chin per mou, the weight of dry 
matter in the root systems decreases rapidly because a correspondingly increased 
amount of harmful sulfate compounds inhibits the normal development of the 
root system.

The relationship between the yield of paddy rice and the "nitrogen fertilization 
norm" is even more evident. When the norm is less than 100 shih chin per mou, 
the yield of paddy rice rises rapidly as the norm increases. But when the norm 
varies in the range between 100 chin and 150 chin per mou, the rate of yield 
increase becomes slow. When the norm goes beyond 150 chin per mou, lodging 
will occur. On fertile lands, a moderate lodging may take place when the norm is 
at 130 chin per mou. This serves to show that the norms of nitrogen fertilization 
should be varied from place to place according to the fertility of the land.

The yield of grain reaches an optimum (78 percent) when the nitrogen 
fertilization norm is at 100 shih chin per mou. The yield gradually decreases as 
the norm goes above 150 shih chin per mou. Of course, the yield of grain is 
further reduced when lodging occurs. The protein content in the rice increases 
from 5.49 percent to 9.28 percent as the norm increases within the range of 100-
150 chin per mou. This shows that irrigation of rice fields by a proper amount of 
industrial waste water will not only increase the quantity, but also improve the 
quality of paddy rice.

In the check area where an equivalent amount of ammonium sulfate fertilizer is 
used, the output of paddy rice, the rate of grain yield, and protein content in the 
grain are about the same as those on the fields irrigated by industrial waste 
waters. However, the development of stems and the root systems of paddy rice 
irrigated by industrial waste water is noticeably better than that in the check 
area. This shows that aside from nitrogen in the state of ammonia, there are 
some other useful elements in the industrial waste water favorable to the growth 
of crops.

From field experiments, it is found that industrial waste water contains a certain 
kind of organic stimulating matter, which settles in the top soil, and has a highly 
fertilizing effect. The presence or absence of this matter spells a great difference 
in the growth of paddy rice even under the norm of hydrogen fertilization.

From petroleum, a certain kind of stimulating element can be extracted. When a 
small amount of this element is added to the soil, all the useful micro-organisms 
in the soil, such as nitrogen fixing bacteria, actinomycetes, and true fungus will 
show a better development, increase the fixation of nitrogen isolated in the air, 
and ensure a better accumulation of nutritious compounds in the plant. If this 
element is used together with phosphorous fertilizer, it will curtail the function 
of soil in fixing effective phosphorous, and at the same time increase the 
absorption ability of plants in respect to phosphorous. It has been confirmed by 
years of research in China and abroad that if this petroleum stimulant is used in 
an extremely small amount alone (100 g per hectare), or used together with 
ammonium sulfate and calcium superphosphate fertilizers, it will hasten the 
growth of paddy rice, wheat, corn and other food grains, vegetables, fruit trees, 
and forest plants. Further research in this respect will be done in the future.

As to the occurrence of lodging and rice heat disease resulting from the use of 
industrial waste waters to irrigate the paddy rice fields, there are two reasons: 
one is that the waste waters contain essentially a fertilizer of nitrogen origin, and 
an excessive use of industrial waste water will inevitably lead to an excessive 
use of nitrogen fertilizer; the other is that industrial waste waters have a high 
content of sulfates which are detrimental to crops. In acidic soil, the sulfates 
generate nitrogen sulfide, which inhibits the physical-chemical and bio-chemical 
functions of the soil, and cause imbalance in the absorption of mineral nutritious 
elements, especially silicates, by the roots of paddy rice. An analysis of the 
content of silicon dioxide in the stems of paddy rice plants shows that as the 
nitrogen fertilization norm increases the silicon dioxide content decreases from 
14.64 percent to 10.54 percent. As the content of silicon dioxide is decreased, 
the physical property of the stems of the paddy rice is weakened; hence the 
lodging. The decrease of silicon dioxide also weakens the ability of paddy rice 
in resisting the rice heat disease and the insects such as locusts. This defect can 
be remedied by exposing the rice fields and an additional application of silicate 
fertilizers.

By controlling the nitrogen fertilization norm, we may increase paddy rice yield 
to 1,000-1,200 chin per mou. Furthermore, by the combined use of industrial 
waste water and phosphorous and silicate fertilizers, by selecting the paddy rice 
strains which can stand heavy application of fertilizers, by rational close 
planting, and by strengthened field management, especially intermittent 
exposure of paddy rice fields, the per unit area yield can be further increased. 
This shows that in the irrigation of paddy rice fields with industrial waste water 
lies a great potential of production increase.

As soon as the industrial waste water containing phenol flows into the field, it is 
quickly purified by the oxygen generated from the rice plants and the free 
oxygen in the air, and by the bio-chemical effect of the micro-organisms in the 
soil. An analysis of the water in an experimental field shows that 77.3 percent 
and 85 percent of the volatile phenol are removed 48 and 96 hours, respectively, 
after the industrial waste water flows into the field, 55.4 percent and 70 percent 
of the petroleum elements are removed 48 hours and 96 hours respectively, after 
the waste water flows into the field, and 80 percent of the sulfates is purified 48 
hours after the waste water flows into the field. The rivers and lakes are much 
less polluted by industrial waste waters after the latter have been used in paddy 
rice fields for irrigation.

The purification experiment shows that soil has a strong purification effect on 
industrial waste waters which contain phenol, and that the poisonous elements in 
waste waters can be comparatively thoroughly purified in the field through a 
natural process.

To use industrial waste waters containing phenol for irrigation not only means 
the use of a rich source of fertilizer, but alsomean an economic and scientific 
treatment of poisonous industrial waste water. This is a measure with double 
advantages. The use of waste water by the Li-shih-chai commune at Pu-shun to 
irrigate a large area of paddy rice fields has resulted in an average per mou yield 
of 850 chin of rice, while the use of waste water from the coke plant of the An-
shan Steel Mill by the San-t'ai-tzu Commune in An-shan has also resulted in an 
average per mou yield of 700-800 chin of paddy rice. Using the paddy fields of 
these two communes as experimental fields, the Forestry and Soil Research 
Institute obtained a yield of 1,200 chin per mou by using industrial waste water 
alone without applying any chemical fertilizer. We have good reason to believe 
that the per unit area yield of paddy rice fields will be steadily increased when 
the technique of utilizing industrial waste water is further improved.




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