China Agri‑Inputs – “Core Technology” Is the Future of Fertilizers

The moment you meet Ma Xuewen, with his refined and scholarly demeanor, you might momentarily think you’ve misjudged him: he doesn’t confine himself to being merely a fertilizer entrepreneur, but instead seeks to trace the origins of the industry and delve into the “core technologies” behind fertilizers. Fertilizer plus technology is transforming production.

Ma Xuewen, exuding an unmistakable scholarly aura, has indeed cracked the “code” for applying fertilizers to crops. Shandong Agricultural University Fertilizer Co., Ltd. is now working to build Asia’s largest production base for active humic‑acid‑based controlled‑release fertilizers. With nearly two decades of hands‑on experience in the fertilizer industry, Ma Xuewen harbors a vision: to seamlessly integrate fertilizer science with cutting‑edge technology, ensuring that technological innovation moves beyond laboratory research and market hype and becomes an integral part of fertilizer products—practical, effective, and readily embraced by farmers in the field. Shandong Agricultural University Fertilizer Co., Ltd. places genuine emphasis on humic acid, scientifically incorporating it into next‑generation controlled‑release fertilizers, and has emerged as the fertilizer industry’s pioneering leader in the comprehensive, synergistic application of humic acid and compound fertilizers—pioneering, large‑scale, and highly successful.

In 2012, the company was recognized as the top enterprise in China’s humic acid industry and was awarded the highest honor, the “Wujin Cup.”

The philosophy and practice of applying humic acid to fertilizers have not given Ma Xuewen the slightest hint of self‑satisfaction; rather, he confidently told reporters: No matter how successful a product may be, it can only bring its “limited” benefits to farmers and their aspirations for bountiful harvests. Only by integrating fertilizer with cutting‑edge science and technology—making this integration a standard operating procedure, the very core of the enterprise, and the fundamental path forward for our products—can we strive for ever greater excellence and truly transform the way we produce.

“In today’s fiercely competitive marketing landscape, people have grown impatient, prone to exaggeration, and driven solely by profit, causing us to overlook the essence of tradition, rationality, and authenticity. Humic acid is a premium, time-honored resource that originates in nature and derives immense value from returning to it. By developing and incorporating it into fertilizers, we have elevated our product offerings—this is what has propelled Shandong Nongda Fertilizer’s success, benefiting the company and driving its growth,” he said.

Active humic acid slow-release fertilizer is just the tip of the iceberg of Shandong Agricultural University Fertilizer Industry’s vision to “perfectly integrate fertilizers with cutting-edge science and technology.” “In the future, we will introduce even more and better fertilizer products to farmers,” said Ma Xuewen. “Our goal is to help more farmers access higher‑quality fertilizers.” Through technological innovation, the company has conserved agricultural resources, reduced carbon emissions, improved nutrient use efficiency, and lowered farmers’ input costs. Guided by the principles of “technology, integrity, and responsibility” and backed by exceptional service, it is poised to win the trust and support of an ever‑growing number of consumers.

　　Meeting the “Elf”

Ma Xuewen likens his encounter with humic acid to a meeting with an “elf.”

Humic acid is nature’s “elf.” Since the eighteenth century, agronomists and soil scientists have regarded soil humus as a nutrient, clearly recognizing its crucial role in soil health and plant nutrition. Humic acid, the most active constituent of soil humus, typically accounts for more than 60% of soil organic matter. For this reason, soil scientists also refer to humic acid as the “vitality factor of soil,” the “foundation of soil fertility,” and the “storage facility for fertilizers.”

In the face of persistent challenges—rising prices for raw materials and energy, high external dependence on resources, unfavorable resource endowment conditions, and daunting tasks in wastewater treatment and energy conservation and emissions reduction—the role of humic acid in enhancing fertilizer efficiency becomes particularly prominent and crucial.

Ma Xuewen stated that Shandong Agricultural University Fertilizer Co., Ltd. leverages industrial-scale utilization of humic acid to produce fertilizers and related products, thereby returning this truly effective component of soil humus to the soil and enabling humic acid—a natural substance with multiple functions—to fulfill its intrinsic roles in the soil. Field trials have demonstrated that humic acid promotes the formation of soil aggregate structures, enhances the soil’s water‑holding, nutrient‑retention, and aeration capacities, regulates and stabilizes soil pH, stimulates microbial activity, and improves the soil’s ability to transform and supply nutrients.

Humic acid, with its five major functions—improving soil quality, enhancing fertilizer efficiency, stimulating plant growth, boosting stress resistance, and improving product quality—revolutionizes fertilizers when combined with them.

Today, Shandong Agricultural University Fertilizer Co., Ltd. directly employs 1,500 workers and has cumulatively supplied farmers with 8 million tons of advanced fertilizers, while continuously nurturing and improving 50 million mu of farmland over many years.

Encouragingly, humic acid–based fertilizers have been incorporated into the National Petroleum and Chemical Industry’s 12th Five-Year Development Plan and have become one of the most dynamic agrochemical products in the agricultural sector during this period.

　　Leave behind a well.

In Ma Xuewen’s view, the people deserve nothing less than sincere treatment. Food security is facing severe challenges, and soil‑environment protection has become an urgent priority—issues all closely linked to fertilizers. The fertilizer products that companies sell to farmers are far more than mere inputs in the agricultural production process; they are like “knowledge” imparted by a teacher to students. Just as teachers must help students realize the value of that knowledge, companies must regard the value of their products as their very lifeblood.

Products and services are, above all, a cultivation of “the Way,” rather than the mere application of “techniques.” The fleeting glory of a sudden breakthrough is underpinned by two decades of painstaking accumulation. As Ma Xuewen candidly admits, in any entrepreneurial venture driven by innovation, “perseverance” is the most demanding test: there is no large‑scale, field‑proven model to draw upon; “learning through practice,摸索ing as we go” is the most apt description of these twenty years. “How can we attract top talent and achieve an optimal mix of human resources? Can we overcome every technical hurdle in the production process? And how do we boost sales in the marketplace?”—these are the loneliness and uncertainties that frequently weigh on one’s mind. From the early days—a porridge‑shop factory, a six‑person marketing team, and a laboratory staffed by a single analyst—to the very first outdoor billboard proclaiming, “Apply Shenong’s premium fertilizer and harvest happy pistachios”—all became the driving forces behind our subsequent explosive growth. “A company with deep roots is like a person who has weathered life’s trials; those invaluable experiences become the positive energy that propels it into the future.”

Over the past decade, the company has undertaken a total of 23 R&D projects on new‑type fertilizers, including National Agricultural Science and Technology Achievement Transformation Fund projects, major special projects for the transformation of independently innovative scientific and technological achievements in Shandong Province, projects under the Shandong Provincial Science and Technology Development Plan, Shandong Provincial science and technology innovation projects, and Taian City science and technology innovation projects. The company has filed a cumulative total of 40 national patent applications for its controlled‑release fertilizer and humic acid technologies, and has been awarded three internationally advanced or higher‑level scientific and technological achievements, as well as seven provincial and municipal science and technology awards.

In 2013, the company achieved solid results across team building, product quality, R&D accumulation, marketing transformation, and the construction of a new production base. Moving forward, our focus will be on cultivating a ten-thousand-ton county‑level operation, establishing a deep-processing industrial chain, and strengthening end‑user services—deepening the “main root” of our traditional products while nurturing the “lateral roots” of emerging markets.

The fertilizer business should leave behind a well, not just a bucket of water. Let the spirit of well‑building give depth to our enterprise, and let the sweet, life‑giving water of that well nourish the souls of all things.

　　Excerpted from China Agricultural Inputs