Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Chemical fertilizer rate, use efficiency and reduction of cereal crops in China, 1998–2018

Journal of Geographical Sciences volume 32, pages 65–78 (2022)Cite this article

Abstract

This paper studied the fertilizer rate (FR), fertilizer use efficiency (FUE) and fertilizer overuse rate (FOR) of rice, corn and wheat in China from 1998 to 2018 and briefly analysed the reasons why farmers were willing to apply more fertilizers. (1) The FR of grain in China reached 373.7 kg/ha in 2018, an increase of 26.8% compared to that in 1998. In 2018, the FR for corn was the highest, at 411.2 kg/ha, compared to the values of 338.3 kg/ha for rice and 371.7 kg/ha for wheat. (2) In recent years, the FUE of grain in China has obviously improved, with values of 32.9% in 1998, 36.7% in 2008, and 39.3% in 2018. In 2018, the FUE for rice was the highest (41.2%), followed by that for corn (39.9%), and the FUE for wheat was the lowest (36.0%). (3) By 2018, fertilizer was overused in all zones of rice, corn and wheat. In 2018, the average FOR for wheat reached 69.0%, which was 35.9% higher than that for corn and 42.8% higher than that for rice. (4) The lower price of chemical fertilizers was the main reason leading to overapplication. (5) Establishing market mechanisms and adjusting regional planting structures can be effective in reducing the application of chemical fertilizers.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

References

  • Bai X, Wang Y, Huo X et al., 2019. Assessing fertilizer use efficiency and its determinants for apple production in China. Ecological Indicators, 104: 268–278.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bouwman A F, Beusen A H W, Lassaletta L et al., 2017. Lessons from temporal and spatial patterns in global use of N and P fertilizer on cropland. Scientific Reports, 7(1): 1–11.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen C, Pan J J, Shu K L et al., 2014. A review of precision fertilization research. Environmental Earth Sciences, 71(9): 4073–4080.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen T, Zeng X, Hu Q, 2002. Utilization efficiency of chemical fertilizers among different counties in China. Acta Geographica Sinica, 57(5): 531–538. (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Chen X, Ma L, Ma W, 2018. What has caused the use of fertilizers to skyrocket in China? Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems, 110(2): 241–255.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cui Z, Chen X, Zhang F, 2010. Current nitrogen management status and measures to improve the intensive wheat-maize system in China. Ambio, 39(5/6): 376–384.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dai H, Sun T, Zhang K et al., 2015. Research on rural nonpoint source pollution in the process of urban-rural integration in the economically-developed area in China based on the improved STIRPAT model. Sustainability, 7(1): 782–793. https://doi.org/10.3390/su7010782.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dhillon J, Torres G, Driver E et al., 2017. World phosphorus use efficiency in cereal crops. Agronomy Journal, 109(4): 1670–1677.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Drechsel P, Heffer P, Magen H et al., 2015. Managing water and fertilizer for sustainable agricultural intensification. International Fertilizer Industry Association (IFA), International Water Management Institute (IWMI), International Plant Nutrition Institute (IPNI), and International Potash Institute (IPI). Paris, France.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fixen P, Brentrup F, Bruulsema T et al., 2015. Nutrient/fertilizer use efficiency: Measurement, current situation and trends. In: International Fertilizer Industry Association (IFA), International Water Management Institute (IWMI), International Plant Nutrition Institute (IPNI), and International Potash Institute (IPI). Managing Water and Fertilizer for Sustainable Agricultural Intensification. Paris, Chapter 2, 8–38.

    Google Scholar 

  • He R, Shao C F, Shi R G, et al., 2020. Development trend and driving factors of agricultural chemical fertilizer efficiency in China. Sustainability, 12(11): 4607. doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/su12114607.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huang J K, Hu R, Cao J et al., 2008. Training programs and in-the-field guidance to reduce China’s overuse of fertilizer without hurting profitability. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation, 63(5): 165–167.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huang W, Jiang L, 2019. Efficiency performance of fertilizer use in arable agricultural production in China. China Agricultural Economic Review, 11(1): 52–69.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jiang J Y, Jiang S, Xu J, 2020. Lowering nitrogen inputs and optimizing fertilizer types can reduce direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions from rice-wheat rotation systems. European Journal of Soil Biology, 97: doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejsobi.2020.103152.

  • Kusano E, Yin C, Chien H, 2019. Fertilizer-use efficiency of farmers using manure in Liaozhong County, China. Jarq-Japan Agricultural Research Quarterly, 53(2): 127–133.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lassaletta L, Billen G, Grizzetti B et al., 2014. 50 year trends in nitrogen use efficiency of world cropping systems: The relationship between yield and nitrogen input to cropland. Environmental Research Letters, 9(10): doi: https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/9/10/105011.

  • Li J, Li S, Liu Y, 2009. Effects of increased ammonia on root/shoot ratio, grain yield and nitrogen use efficiency of two wheat varieties with various N supply. Plant Soil and Environment, 55(7): 273–280.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li W, Ou Q, Chen Y, 2014. Decomposition of China’s CO2 emissions from agriculture utilizing an improved Kaya identity. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 21(22): 13000–13006.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li Y, Zhang W, Ma L et al., 2013. An analysis of China’s fertilizer policies: Impacts on the industry, food security, and the environment. Journal of Environmental Quality, 42(4): 972–981.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li Z, Wang X, Wei J et al., 2010. Life cycle assessment of fertilization in corn production in different regions of China. Acta Scientiae Circumstantiae, 30(9): 1912–1920. (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Liu X, Wang H, Zhou J et al., 2016. Effect of N fertilization pattern on rice yield, N use efficiency and fertilizer-N fate in the Yangtze River Basin, China. Plos One, 11(11). doi: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0166002.

  • Long X L, Luo Y S, Sun H P et al., 2018. Fertilizer using intensity and environmental efficiency for China’s agriculture sector from 1997 to 2014. Natural Hazards, 92(3): 1573–1591.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lv S, Wang X, Liu G, 2015. A simple and reasonable calculation equation of balanced fertilization. Agronomy-Basel, 52: 180–187.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ma F L, Zhang S Y, Gao D Q et al., 2020. The problems and countermeasures of fertilization for corn in the eastern mountainous area of Jilin Province. Modern Agricultural Science and Technology, 24: 147–148, 152. (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Ma S, Li F, Xu B et al., 2010. Effect of lowering the root/shoot ratio by pruning roots on water use efficiency and grain yield of winter wheat. Field Crops Research, 115(2): 158–164.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Omara P, Aula L, Oyebiyi F et al., 2019. World cereal nitrogen use efficiency trends: Review and current knowledge. Agrosystems, Geosciences & Environment, 2(1): 1–8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Purnomo J, Subiksa I G M, 2021. Effect of P fertilizer formula to the growth and yield of sweet corn on peatland. IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science, 648(1): 012194.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Quan Z, Li S, Zhang X et al., 2020. Fertilizer nitrogen use efficiency and fates in maize cropping systems across China: Field N-15 tracer studies. Soil & Tillage Research, 197: doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.still.2019.104498.

  • Shi K, Shang J, 2018. Research on the fertilizer application behavior and agricultural non-point source pollution control in green agricultural planting. Boletin De Malariologia Y Salud Ambiental, 58(1): 12–19.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shi P, Guo M, Ou S et al., 2020. Formula fertilization of nitrogen and potassium fertilizers reduces cadmium accumulation in Panax notoginseng. Archives of Agronomy and Soil Science, 66(3): 343–357.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Song D, Hou S, Wang X, 2018. Nutrient resource quantity of crop straw and its potential of substituting. Journal of Plant Nutrition and Fertilizers, 24(1): 1–21. (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Swaney D P, Howarth R W, Hong B, 2018. Nitrogen use efficiency and crop production: Patterns of regional variation in the United States, 1987–2012. Science of the Total Environment, 635: 498–511.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang L, Zheng H, Zhao H et al., 2017. Nitrogen balance dynamics during 2000–2010 in the Yangtze River Basin croplands, with special reference to the relative contributions of cropland area and synthetic fertilizer N application rate changes. Plos One, 12(7). doi: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0180613.

  • Wang S, Tan Y, Fan H et al., 2015. Responses of soil microarthropods to inorganic and organic fertilizers in a poplar plantation in a coastal area of eastern China. Applied Soil Ecology, 89: 69–75.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang Y, Wang M, Shi X et al., 2016. Spatial patterns of net primary productivity of crops in China. Acta Ecologica Sinica, 36(19): 6318–6327. (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Wehmeyer H, de Guia Annalyn H, Melanie C, 2020. Reduction of fertilizer use in South China: Impacts and implications on smallholder rice farmers. Sustainability, 12(6): doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/su12062240.

  • Williams J, McCool D, Reardon C et al., 2013. Root: Shoot ratios and belowground biomass distribution for Pacific Northwest dryland crops. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation, 68(5): 349–360.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wu H, Ge Y, 2019. Excessive application of fertilizer, agricultural non-point source pollution, and farmers’ policy choice. Sustainability, 11(4): doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/su11041165.

  • Wu Y, Wang E, Miao C, 2019. Fertilizer use in China: The role of agricultural support policies. Sustainability, 11(16): doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/su11164391.

  • Xin L J, Li X B, Tan M H, 2012. Temporal and regional variations of China’s fertilizer consumption by crops during 1998–2008. Journal of Geographical Sciences, 22(4): 643–652.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zeng X M, Fan B J, Xu F S et al., 2012. Effects of modified fertilization technology on the grain yield and nitrogen use efficiency of midseason rice. Field Crops Research, 137: 203–212.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang X, Davidson E, Mauzerall D et al., 2015. Managing nitrogen for sustainable development. Nature, 528(7580): 51–59.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhou J, Xia F, Liu X et al., 2014. Effects of nitrogen fertilizer on the acidification of two typical acid soils in South China. Journal of Soils and Sediments, 14(2): 415–422.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Funding

Foundation: The Second Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition and Research Program, No.2019QZKK0603; Strategic Priority Research Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences, No.XDA20040000, No.XDA20090000

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Land Surface Pattern and Simulation, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, CAS, Beijing, 100101, China

    Liangjie Xin

Authors
  1. Liangjie Xin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Liangjie Xin.

Additional information

Author

Xin Liangjie (1979-), PhD and Associate Professor, specialized in land use change and its effects. E-mail: xinlj@igsnrr.ac.cn

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Xin, L. Chemical fertilizer rate, use efficiency and reduction of cereal crops in China, 1998–2018. J. Geogr. Sci. 32, 65–78 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11442-022-1936-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11442-022-1936-2

Keywords

search

Navigation