{"id":21606,"date":"2024-12-20T13:46:13","date_gmt":"2024-12-20T13:46:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/?p=21606"},"modified":"2024-12-20T13:46:14","modified_gmt":"2024-12-20T13:46:14","slug":"china-attains-record-harvests-with-little-fertilizer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/2024\/12\/20\/china-attains-record-harvests-with-little-fertilizer\/","title":{"rendered":"China attains record harvests with little fertilizer\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>2024 ends on a sustainable note for China after reaping a record 706.5 billion tonnes of grains despite fertilizer use reduction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/economy\/china-economy\/article\/3291483\/chinas-record-farm-yields-see-fertiliser-its-way-out-advanced-tech\"><u>South China Morning Post&nbsp;<\/u><\/a>on December 20, 2024, farmers made it without much fertilizer via new tech.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One such effort is by the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/english.cas.cn\/newsroom\/research_news\/chem\/202412\/t20241216_894701.shtml\"><u>Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences (RCEES), a part of the Chinese Academy of Sciences<\/u><\/a>. The institution has managed to convert nitrate that naturally occurs in running water into eco-friendly ammonia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>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<a href=\"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/2024\/09\/03\/rice-production-in-asia-up-by-176-courtesy-nuclear-technology\/#:~:text=The%20use%20of%20climate-smart%20nuclear%20technology%20has%20improved,partnership%20with%20UN\u2019s%20Food%20and%20Agricultural%20Organization\"><u>\u00a0recorded high rice yields<\/u>\u00a0<\/a>after ditching synthetic fertilizers for tech-aided natural fertilizers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The use of nitrate-converted-ammonia in its part reduces environmental contamination by 70%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-yield-bonus\"><strong>Yield Bonus<\/strong><strong><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>At the same time, RCEES finds that rice growing under ammonia from nitrate water conversion increases rice yield by 20%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This happens even as fertilizer utility goes down by 50%, cuts fertilizer costs by 19% and boosts farm revenue by 27%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The above example also applies at the nationwide level. From 2021 to 2024, national rice yields increased by&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/vietnamagriculture.nongnghiep.vn\/how-is-china-achieving-record-harvests-despite-reducing-fertiliser-use-d414222.html\"><u>0.63%&nbsp;<\/u><\/a>while soybean and corn yields hiked by 2.54% and 4.87%, accordingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>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\u2019s funding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-fertilizer-phaseout\"><strong>Fertilizer Phaseout<\/strong><strong><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>It is through such funding efforts that China has managed to gradually phase out chemical &nbsp;fertilizers between 2015 and 2024. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Ministry of Agriculture began the&nbsp;<a href=\"#:~:text=In%202015%2C%20the%20Chinese%20Minist\"><u>Two-Action plan<\/u><\/a>&nbsp;of cutting pesticide and chemical fertilizer growth in 2015.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Although the original target to bring the growth of chemical fertilizer use to zero by 2020 has not matured, it is improving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-china-agricultural-fertilizer-statistics\"><strong>China Agricultural Fertilizer Statistics<\/strong><strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>China remains the biggest consumer of agricultural fertilizers (both chemical and non-synthetic) in the world at&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.statista.com\/statistics\/1287852\/global-consumption-fertilizer-by-country\/\"><u>44,700,000 tonnes<\/u><\/a>&nbsp;per year, as of 2022. Only India and the United States come close at 29,840,000 and 20,460,000 tonnes, respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Does China lead in per<\/strong><strong>&#8211;<\/strong><strong>hectare fertiliser use<\/strong>?&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In 2021, China ranked 11<sup>th<\/sup>&nbsp;in the fertilizer use rate at 412 kg per hectare, according to&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theglobaleconomy.com\/rankings\/fertilizer_use\/\"><u>The Global Economy<\/u><\/a>. 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<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theglobaleconomy.com\/rankings\/fertilizer_use\/\"><u>,497 kg<\/u><\/a>&nbsp;per hectare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Which is the number one fertilizer in use in China<\/strong>?&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>From 1952 through 2024, China has predominantly used&nbsp;<a href=\"#:~:text=China%20ranks%20in%20the%20highest%20position%20for%20nitrogen,biogeochemical%20cycles%20and%20endangered%20terrestrial%20and%20aquatic%20ecosystems.\"><u>nitrogen (N) fertilizer&nbsp;<\/u><\/a>&nbsp;more than any other fertilizer, ahead of other nations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Is Nitrogen fert<\/strong><strong>i<\/strong><strong>lizer use decreasing in China<\/strong>?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Chemical N fertilizer use in China decreased by<a href=\"#:~:text=China%20ranks%20in%20the%20highest%20position%20for%20nitrogen,biogeochemical%20cycles%20and%20endangered%20terrestrial%20and%20aquatic%20ecosystems.\"><u>&nbsp;9.1%<\/u><\/a>&nbsp;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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>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&nbsp;South China Morning Post&nbsp;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&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":18188,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v16.3 (Yoast SEO v20.5) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>China attains record harvests with little fertilizer\u00a0 - Selina Wamucii | Food &amp; Agriculture News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/2024\/12\/20\/china-attains-record-harvests-with-little-fertilizer\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"China attains record harvests with little fertilizer\u00a0 - Selina Wamucii | Food &amp; Agriculture News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"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&nbsp;South China Morning Post&nbsp;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...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/2024\/12\/20\/china-attains-record-harvests-with-little-fertilizer\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Selina Wamucii | Food &amp; Agriculture News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-12-20T13:46:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-12-20T13:46:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Terrace_Rice_Fields_Yunan_China_-_panoramio-e1680526868373.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"320\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Timothy Wahome\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Timothy Wahome\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/2024\/12\/20\/china-attains-record-harvests-with-little-fertilizer\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/2024\/12\/20\/china-attains-record-harvests-with-little-fertilizer\/\",\"name\":\"China attains record harvests with little fertilizer\u00a0 - Selina Wamucii | Food &amp; Agriculture News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2024-12-20T13:46:13+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-12-20T13:46:14+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c0aad9a1f85037798080d75b4302cf8\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/2024\/12\/20\/china-attains-record-harvests-with-little-fertilizer\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/2024\/12\/20\/china-attains-record-harvests-with-little-fertilizer\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/2024\/12\/20\/china-attains-record-harvests-with-little-fertilizer\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"China attains record harvests with little fertilizer\u00a0\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Selina Wamucii | Food & Agriculture News\",\"description\":\"Discover the Latest in Food and Agriculture.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c0aad9a1f85037798080d75b4302cf8\",\"name\":\"Timothy Wahome\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/636da6c8288b7dcaef01a42b50c3bc41?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/636da6c8288b7dcaef01a42b50c3bc41?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Timothy Wahome\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/author\/twt4wahomegmail-com\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"China attains record harvests with little fertilizer\u00a0 - Selina Wamucii | Food &amp; Agriculture News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/2024\/12\/20\/china-attains-record-harvests-with-little-fertilizer\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"China attains record harvests with little fertilizer\u00a0 - Selina Wamucii | Food &amp; Agriculture News","og_description":"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&nbsp;South China Morning Post&nbsp;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...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/2024\/12\/20\/china-attains-record-harvests-with-little-fertilizer\/","og_site_name":"Selina Wamucii | Food &amp; Agriculture News","article_published_time":"2024-12-20T13:46:13+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-12-20T13:46:14+00:00","og_image":[{"width":640,"height":320,"url":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Terrace_Rice_Fields_Yunan_China_-_panoramio-e1680526868373.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Timothy Wahome","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Timothy Wahome","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/2024\/12\/20\/china-attains-record-harvests-with-little-fertilizer\/","url":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/2024\/12\/20\/china-attains-record-harvests-with-little-fertilizer\/","name":"China attains record harvests with little fertilizer\u00a0 - Selina Wamucii | Food &amp; Agriculture News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/#website"},"datePublished":"2024-12-20T13:46:13+00:00","dateModified":"2024-12-20T13:46:14+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c0aad9a1f85037798080d75b4302cf8"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/2024\/12\/20\/china-attains-record-harvests-with-little-fertilizer\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/2024\/12\/20\/china-attains-record-harvests-with-little-fertilizer\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/2024\/12\/20\/china-attains-record-harvests-with-little-fertilizer\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"China attains record harvests with little fertilizer\u00a0"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/","name":"Selina Wamucii | Food & Agriculture News","description":"Discover the Latest in Food and Agriculture.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c0aad9a1f85037798080d75b4302cf8","name":"Timothy Wahome","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/636da6c8288b7dcaef01a42b50c3bc41?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/636da6c8288b7dcaef01a42b50c3bc41?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Timothy Wahome"},"url":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/author\/twt4wahomegmail-com\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21606"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21606"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21606\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21608,"href":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21606\/revisions\/21608"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18188"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21606"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21606"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21606"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}