What are the chemical fertilizer utilization rates for China's three major grain crops: rice, corn and wheat?

Zeng Yande, Director of the Planting Industry Management Department of the Ministry of Agriculture, revealed at a press conference on the 2nd that in recent years China has carried out an action to achieve zero growth in the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, and the utilization rates of chemical fertilizers and pesticides have steadily increased. According to scientific calculation, in 2015 the chemical fertilizer utilization rate of China's rice, corn and wheat, the three major grain crops, was 35.2%, 2.2 percentage points higher than in 2013; the pesticide utilization rate was 36.6%, 1.6 percentage points higher than in 2013.

“The 2.2 percentage point increase in the chemical fertilizer utilization rate alone is equivalent to reducing nitrogen emissions by 478,000 tons over 2 years, and reducing farmers' input by 1.8 billion yuan.” Zeng Yande analyzed that the 1.6 percentage point increase in the pesticide utilization rate reduced pesticide use by 15,200 tons, and reduced farmers' production input by about 800 million yuan.

Zeng Yande pointed out that compared with developed countries, China's chemical fertilizer and pesticide utilization rates still lag far behind. At present, the nitrogen fertilizer utilization rate of grain crops in the United States is about 50%, and that of grain crops in major European countries is about 65%, 15~30 percentage points higher than China's. The pesticide utilization rate of grain crops such as wheat and corn in developed countries in Europe and America is 50%~60%, 15~25 percentage points higher than China's. In the future, the Ministry of Agriculture will solidly carry out the “action to achieve zero growth in chemical fertilizer use by 2020” and the “action to achieve zero growth in pesticide use by 2020”, accelerate the transformation of fertilization and pesticide application methods, accelerate the promotion of new high-efficiency fertilizers and pesticides, accelerate the development of socialized service organizations, and further increase the utilization rates of chemical fertilizers and pesticides.