2024 ends on a sustainable note for China after reaping a record 706.5 billion tonnes of grains despite fertilizer use reduction.
According to the South China Morning Post on December 20, 2024, farmers made it without much fertilizer via new tech.
Some of this tech is from educational institutions and scientific bodies. The agencies convert nutrients in electrochemical water into natural fertilizer instead of relying on harmful artificial mixes.
One such effort is by the Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences (RCEES), a part of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The institution has managed to convert nitrate that naturally occurs in running water into eco-friendly ammonia.
According to RCEES, industrial ammonia fertilizer emits 420 million tonnes of carbon dioxide annually or 1 to 2% of worldwide energy emissions. Similarly, some countries in Asia have also recorded high rice yields after ditching synthetic fertilizers for tech-aided natural fertilizers.
The use of nitrate-converted-ammonia in its part reduces environmental contamination by 70%.
Yield Bonus
At the same time, RCEES finds that rice growing under ammonia from nitrate water conversion increases rice yield by 20%.
This happens even as fertilizer utility goes down by 50%, cuts fertilizer costs by 19% and boosts farm revenue by 27%.
The above example also applies at the nationwide level. From 2021 to 2024, national rice yields increased by 0.63% while soybean and corn yields hiked by 2.54% and 4.87%, accordingly.
All these efforts owe much to research funding. Indeed, China set aside agricultural research funds worth 15.9 billion yuan ($2.18 billion) in 2023, 25.2% more than 2022’s funding.
Fertilizer Phaseout
It is through such funding efforts that China has managed to gradually phase out chemical fertilizers between 2015 and 2024.
The Ministry of Agriculture began the Two-Action plan of cutting pesticide and chemical fertilizer growth in 2015.
Although the original target to bring the growth of chemical fertilizer use to zero by 2020 has not matured, it is improving.
The record grain harvest and increasing yield rates in various crops despite minimal fertilizer use highlights some gains. And as the following statistics point out, China may still be the biggest user of chemicals but is heading into sustainability.
China Agricultural Fertilizer Statistics
China remains the biggest consumer of agricultural fertilizers (both chemical and non-synthetic) in the world at 44,700,000 tonnes per year, as of 2022. Only India and the United States come close at 29,840,000 and 20,460,000 tonnes, respectively.
Does China lead in per–hectare fertiliser use?
In 2021, China ranked 11th in the fertilizer use rate at 412 kg per hectare, according to The Global Economy. This rate is quite moderate in comparison with the top 3 countries, each with double digit rates. Malaysia led the 2021 utility at 2,148 kg per hectare while Ireland followed at 1,497 kg per hectare.
Which is the number one fertilizer in use in China?
From 1952 through 2024, China has predominantly used nitrogen (N) fertilizer more than any other fertilizer, ahead of other nations.
Is Nitrogen fertilizer use decreasing in China?
Chemical N fertilizer use in China decreased by 9.1% from 2014 and 2018. However, the inclusion of N in compound fertilizers including manure has seen its presence increase by 6% in the same period.