Sohu – Special Fertilizer Conference: The future direction of China’s fertilizer industry lies in optimizing product forms and leveraging additives!

At present, global agriculture is confronted with a host of challenges, including environmental degradation, shrinking arable land, declining soil quality, and severe water pollution. The “environmental protection” ethos permeated the entirety of 2017, and the implementation of the Environmental Protection Tax Law in 2018 further accelerated the pace of supply-side reform in China’s agricultural sector. Against the backdrop of China’s vigorous promotion of smart agriculture and its encouragement of agricultural innovation, how should the country’s fertilizer industry pursue product innovation and industrial upgrading?

To explore the future direction of China’s fertilizer industry and to discuss the challenges and opportunities facing the development of specialty fertilizers, the 2018 CNCIC Global Specialty Fertilizer Conference kicked off in Beijing on June 14. The event brought together nearly 800 participants, including officials from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, representatives from dozens of leading domestic and international agrochemical companies, and representatives from mainstream industry media.

At the opening ceremony, Ji Yubin, Deputy Director of the China Chemical Information Center; Wang Weimin, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee, Chief Executive Officer, and President of CNOOC Chemical Corporation; and Victor Larrondo, SQM’s Far East Regional Sales Manager and General Manager of SQM (Beijing) Trading Co., Ltd., delivered remarks.

Xu Jingying, Deputy Director of the Farmland and Fertilizer Management Division of the Department of Crop Production under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs; Zhang Fusuo, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and Director of the Center for Resource, Environment, and Food Security at China Agricultural University; Zhao Bingqiang, Researcher at the Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences; Gao Xiangzhao, Chief Expert at the National Agricultural Technology Extension Service Center; and more than a dozen other leaders and prominent industry experts engaged in exchanges and discussions on topics such as “Supply-Side Structural Reform in Agriculture and the Development of Scientific Fertilization,” “Fertilizer Technologies for Balancing Food Security and Environmental Protection,” and “Innovation in Fertilizer Products and Industrial Upgrading,” all of which received strong endorsement from the attendees.

Xu Jingying stated that supply-side reform in agriculture is key to enhancing agricultural quality, efficiency, and competitiveness. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs is actively advancing supply-side structural reform in the agricultural sector, conducting pilot programs for crop rotation and fallow periods, and adjusting planting structures. The aim of piloting a system of farmland rotation and fallowing is to allow cultivated land to rest and recover, promote sustainable agricultural development, and address challenges such as imbalances between grain supply and demand, stabilize farmers’ incomes, and alleviate fiscal pressures. At present, the main efforts are focused on two priorities: further implementing the initiative to achieve zero growth in fertilizer use by 2020, and vigorously promoting the substitution of chemical fertilizers with organic fertilizers for fruits, vegetables, and tea. Meanwhile, the ministry is actively supporting the development of new types of fertilizers, including water-soluble and slow-release fertilizers.

“With the launch of the national initiative in 2015 to reduce fertilizer application while enhancing its efficiency, China’s fertilizer sector has entered a new phase,” said Zhang Fusuo. He emphasized that fertilizers are an essential material foundation for sustainable agricultural development and a cornerstone of food security, and that their judicious use is critical to both agricultural productivity and environmental protection. At present, it is imperative to gain a comprehensive understanding of the role of fertilizers, vigorously advance the transformation and upgrading of the fertilizer industry, further promote the scientific application of fertilizers, and ensure national food security while advancing green development.

Regarding the evolution of fertilizer product innovation in China, Zhao Bingqiang argues that this process has unfolded in two distinct phases: the enhancement of nutrient availability from fertilizer resources and the optimization of the efficiency of applied nutrients. Product innovation has driven the fertilizer industry through successive stages—initial fertilizers, low-concentration fertilizers, high-concentration fertilizers, and finally, green, high-efficiency fertilizers. Value-added fertilizer products, by enabling integrated regulation of the “fertilizer–crop–soil” system, can significantly improve the utilization efficiency of fertilizer nutrients.

As agriculture and the rural economy continue to develop, China has seen steadily increasing scale and automation in farming, with growing yields and improved quality of agricultural products, while the carrying capacity of land is under mounting pressure. Against this backdrop, relevant policies and measures for agricultural development have been successively introduced and implemented, and new types of fertilizers are constantly emerging. Under these new circumstances, how should the fertilizer industry move forward? Gao Xiangzhao argues that the sector must stay on the right track: first, while giving due attention to large-scale farms, we must not overlook smallholder farmers; second, we should evaluate both fertilizer efficacy and underlying mechanisms; third, building on the international “4R” principles of precision application, we must also adopt appropriate application methods and concentrations; fourth, organic fertilizers should be used in scientifically balanced formulations, with particular emphasis on quality; fifth, the future direction of China’s fertilizer industry lies in optimizing product forms and leveraging advanced additives; and sixth, enhancing quality and efficiency will remain the guiding mission for the sector’s continued development.