China's fertilizer utilization rate increased by 2.2 percentage points

Zeng Yande, director of the Department of Crop Production of the Ministry of Agriculture, revealed at a press conference on the 2nd that in recent years China has carried out the action of 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 fertilizer utilization rate of China's three major grain crops - rice, corn and wheat - 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 increase of 2.2 percentage points in the 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, adding that a 1.6 percentage point increase in the pesticide utilization rate reduces pesticide use by 15,200 tons and reduces farmers' production input by about 800 million yuan.

Zeng Yande pointed out that compared with developed countries, China's 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 major European countries is about 65%, 15 to 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% to 60%, 15 to 25 percentage points higher than China's. In the future, the Ministry of Agriculture will solidly carry out the "action of zero growth in chemical fertilizer use by 2020" and the "action of zero growth in pesticide use by 2020", accelerate the transformation of fertilization and pesticide application methods, accelerate the promotion of new efficient fertilizers and pesticides, accelerate the development of socialized service organizations, and further raise the utilization rates of chemical fertilizers and agriculture.