BEIJING - Chinese authorities will standardize the breeding and raising of poultry and livestock because husbandry-generated pollution has become a major problem in the countryside, according to a regulation signed by Premier Li Keqiang.

The regulation on preventing husbandry-generated pollution, which was passed at a State Council executive meeting in October, will take effect on January 1. It will help reshape the industry and prevent avian influenza.

Poultry and livestock production has been inconsistent with environmental protection in the country's rural areas, according to a statement jointly released Tuesday by the Legislative Affairs Office of the State Council, the Ministry of Environmental Protection and the Ministry of Agriculture.

The worsening rural environment is largely blamed on the expansion of poultry husbandry factories, according to the statement.

The level of decontamination of husbandry waste remains at a low level and this has led to the waste of resources and environmental pollution, the document added.

The regulation ordered incentives to encourage centralized and standardized husbandry, and vowed to support recycling and decontamination of waste.

The regulation also asked local governments to roll out specific standards on farms in accordance with local environmental conditions.