Changes in regional grain yield responses to chemical fertilizer use in China over the last 20 years

Abstract

A major challenge facing China is to meet the increasing food demand of its growing population in the face of decreasing arable land area, while sustaining or improving soil productivity and avoiding adverse environmental impacts from intensive agriculture. This study uses data from China Statistical Yearbooks to analyze trends in regional soil productivity and grain yields in the major grain-producing regions in North China (NC), Northeast China (NE), East China (EC), Central China (CC), and Southwest China (SW), associated with regional fertilizer use and annual climate variation in rainfall and mean temperature over the 20 years. During 1992-2012, the average fertilizer increase rates (in kg ha -1 year -1 ) were in the order of regions CC (6.6) > NC (4.8) > EC (2.4) > SW (2.1) > NE (1.3), while yield responses to fertilizer use (with regression model coefficients, in kg kg -1 ) were in the order: SW (-0.9) < CC (1.1) < NC (1.7) < EC (5.7) < NE (9.3), showing higher yield responses to fertilizer use for NE and EC than for other regions. The changes in regional grain yields also showed higher yield responses to soil-based productivity for NC, CC, and SW, or to annual climate variability for CC than for other regions, indicating that other factors (such as inherent soil productivity or annual climate variability could be more important than fertilizer in affecting yields. The strategies for regulating nutrient management are needed considerably based on regional indigenous soil nutrient supply under varying regional climate conditions.

Morphological and Physiological Characteristics of Rice Cultivars with Higher Yield and Nitrogen Use Efficiency at Various Nitrogen Rates

“…With the increase in N application rate, the grain yield of SN265 and TJ11 increased, whereas, in FJ, yield first increased and then decreased. The NUEs decreased with the increase in N rates, which is consistent with the results of previous studies [9,20,33]. NUE is a measure of the relation in plants between N absorption from soil and N utilization [7,8].…”

Nitrogen enrichment buffers phosphorus limitation by mobilizing mineral‐bound soil phosphorus in grasslands

“…Nitrogen was applied as NH 4 NO 3 in six different amounts (0, 5, 10, 15, 20, and 50 g N m −2 year −1 ) twice per year, each with half of the amount in June and November. The study area was close to the main grain‐producing region of the North China Plain, an intensively managed agricultural area with heavy N fertilization activities (Wang et al, 2018). Ecosystem N inputs as derived from N deposition and N fertilization have been projected to increase and stabilize at a relatively high level in the future in our study area (Yu et al, 2019; Zhu et al, 2020).…”

Effects of Households’ Fertilization Knowledge and Technologies on Over-Fertilization: A Case Study of Grape Growers in Shaanxi, China

“…From 1978 to 2016, the annual application amount of CFs in China increased from 8.84 million tons to 59.84 million tons. The main reasons behind this include the increase in planting area, the adjustment of planting structure and changes in fertilization intensity [8,9]. During the same period, the sowing area of China's grain crops was generally maintained at 11 × 10 7 ha, while its proportion to the total sowing area of crops fell from 80.34% to 67.83%.…”