The chaos in seaweed fertilizer is far from over; several more masks still need to be torn off

Southern Rural Daily reporter Zhang Siping

The seaweed fertilizer originally known by the generic name "water-soluble fertilizer containing alginic acid" has recently had its generic name abolished and been reclassified under "organic water-soluble fertilizer." A Southern Rural Daily reporter learned from the National Chemical Fertilizer Quality Supervision and Inspection Center that this move is related to monitoring the chaotic situation in the production and sale of seaweed fertilizer. Seaweed fertilizer, a new type of fertilizer product carrying concepts of ecology, organic and environmental protection, has been sought after by the market in recent years, but only a very small portion can be called truly qualified seaweed fertilizer.

Eighty percent of "seaweed fertilizer" is unregistered

From May 24-26, a Southern Rural Daily reporter investigated more than ten retail stores in Fengcun Town, Xinxu Town, Gaoliang Town, Guanxu Town and other places in Deqing County, among which eight stores were found selling products labeled "seaweed fertilizer," and some stores had more than one product labeled "seaweed fertilizer."

The popularity of seaweed fertilizer stems from its being "easy to sell" in the market. Mr. Liang, owner of an agricultural supply store in Fengcun Town, said he distributes a seaweed fertilizer product, and many farmers reported very good results after using it, better than humic acid foliar fertilizers with the same nutrient content, so sales have risen year by year in recent years.

Several local agricultural supply distributors revealed in interviews with a Southern Rural Daily reporter that after several years of promotion, farmers' awareness of seaweed fertilizer has grown ever higher, making it a hot-selling item on the market, so among the more than 400 retail stores in Deqing, at least half or more sell "seaweed fertilizer."

In other areas of Guangdong Province, a Southern Rural Daily reporter also found during multiple visits to rural areas that although seaweed fertilizer is a new type of fertilizer only launched on the market in recent years, it is now everywhere in retail stores, with many displayed in the most prominent positions in stores and becoming the main promoted product among foliar fertilizers.

A Southern Rural Daily reporter also noted that seaweed fertilizer products on the market come in diverse forms, including liquid, soluble flakes, paste, gel colloid, soluble powder, slow-release fertilizer tablets and more. Manufacturers are found not only in coastal areas with seaweed raw materials such as Shandong, Jiangsu and Zhejiang, but also in inland areas without seaweed raw materials such as Henan and Shaanxi, and there are also many products labeled as imported. It can truly be described as a motley assortment.

"Not only Guangdong, but the national market for seaweed fertilizer is the same," said Wan Xuebing, technical director of Beijing Leili Agricultural Chemical Co., Ltd. At present, there are at least more than 500 products labeled "seaweed fertilizer" on sale in the national agricultural supply market, with more than 300 manufacturers.

However, a Southern Rural Daily reporter found by searching the "Ministry of Agriculture Fertilizer Registration Certificate Announcement" section on the official website of the National Chemical Fertilizer Quality Supervision and Inspection Center (Beijing) that, as of statistics on May 13, 2011, there were only 78 "water-soluble fertilizers containing alginic acid" products that had obtained registration from the Ministry of Agriculture, from 38 manufacturers. Clearly, more than 80% of seaweed fertilizer products on the market are sold illegally without certificates.

The most important reason seaweed fertilizer has become a disaster area for fake and inferior products is the drive of high profits. Several senior industry insiders revealed that on the market, seaweed fertilizer is truly a noble fertilizer, generally priced at least 10% higher than humic acid foliar fertilizers with the same nutrient content, so profits are also relatively much higher.

Any product containing alginic acid is called "seaweed fertilizer"

A Southern Rural Daily reporter's investigation also found that not only can registration certificates show that most enterprises are producing illegally, but from the perspective of raw materials, fake and inferior seaweed fertilizers on the market have also revealed "the fox's tail."

Zhang Xuecheng, vice president of the China Seaweed Industry Association, said in an interview with a Southern Rural Daily reporter that China's total annual seaweed output is about 1.5 million tons, more than 80% of which is cultivated, mainly used in fields such as seaweed food, seaweed gum food additives and auxiliaries, seaweed health products, cosmetics, bioenergy and agricultural inputs (seaweed feed, seaweed fertilizer). Because the seaweed fertilizer manufacturing industry started late and its economic benefits are far inferior to fields such as food, the amount of seaweed currently used for fertilizer production is very small, estimated not to exceed 10% of total seaweed.

According to several industry experts, under first-class raw materials and first-class processing techniques, the seaweed active substances extracted from seaweed do not exceed 20% of total weight. At present, the total output of various seaweed fertilizers in China is about 600,000-700,000 tons. Calculated this way, the content of seaweed active substances in seaweed fertilizer on the market is less than 5%. But the reality is that most products claim a seaweed active substance content of more than 10%, some as high as 30%, and also claim that the raw materials are pure natural seaweed from the deep sea.

It is understood that not only is seaweed raw material lacking, but seaweed fertilizer processing techniques are also an industry bottleneck. A senior industry insider said bluntly that although there are nearly a hundred alginic acid products currently registered with the Ministry of Agriculture, fewer than 5 enterprises in China truly master the technology to extract seaweed active substances from seaweed and concentrate them (seaweed extract powder). Many enterprises buy chemical raw materials such as sodium alginate and compound them into alginic acid, and currently "water-soluble fertilizer containing alginic acid" has no industry standard. During registration, generally the review committee only needs to detect that the product contains alginic acid for it to pass, so many enterprises use this trick to muddle through.