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Agricultural Sciences in China

2008, 7(4): 469-479

ScienceDirect

April 2008

Recent Advances on the Technologies to Increase Fertilizer Use Efficiency

Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, P.R.China
Key Laboratory of Plant Nutrition and Nutrient Cycling, Ministry of Agriculture, Beijing 100081, P.R.China
International Plant Nutrition Institute (IPNI) China Program, Beijing 100081, P.R.China

Abstract
To increase fertilizer use efficiency (FUE) and to minimize its negative impact on environment have been the focal points
in the world for a long time. It is very important to increase FUE in China for its relatively low FUE and serious losses of
nutrients. Recent advances of the technologies to increase FUE are reviewed in this article. These include site-specific
and real-time nitrogen management, non-destructive quick test of the nitrogen status of plants, new types of slow release
and controlled release fertilizers, site-specific nutrient management, and use of urease inhibitor and nitrification inhibitor
to decrease nitrogen losses. Future outlook in technologies related to FUE improvement is also discussed.

Key words: fertilizer use efficiency, site-specificheal-time nitrogen management, slowly release/controlled release fertilizer,
site specific nutrient management, ureasehitrification inhibitor

INTRODUCTION
Fertilizer is the vital input material for the sustainable
development of crop production and plays an important
role in food security. The worldwide experiences in
agricultural development have proved that rational
fertilization is the most efficient and important measure
for increasing crop production. The amount of fertilizer
consumed in China has been increasing by 4% each
year since 1980. At present, China has become the
worlds largest producer and consumer of fertilizer.
The amount of fertilizer consumed in China has
approached one-third of the total amount of the world
consumption, although the arable land of the country
only occupies 9%of the worlds total. Due to the low
fertilizer w e efficiency (FUE), the nitrogen loses
heavily through volatilization, leaching, and runoff.
Taking the example of consumption of 2lmillion tons

of pure nitrogen each year, and 45% of the amount is

lost (Li et al. 1998). The total loss of nitrogen can
reach 9.45 million tons each year, which equals to 20.
5 million tons of urea. The heavy loss of fertilizer has
triggered a series of environmental problems. In some
intensified agricultural areas in the north, the irrational
application of nitrogen has led to the overrun of nitrates
in the groundwater. These examples have been
reported now and then. In some economically
developed areas in the south, the overapplication of
nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers has contributed to
eutrophication of surface water. Besides, there are
other examples of environmental problems resulting
from irrational application of fertilizer, such as the
accumulation of nitrates in vegetables, the increased
emission of nitrous oxide in the air, and red tide of
southern inshore cities. Thereafter, to increase FUE
has significant meanings for the sustainable
development of agriculture.

This paper is translated from its Chinese version in Scientia Agricultura Sinica.
YAN Xiang, Assistant Professor,Tek +86-1068918700,E-mail: yanxiang@caas.ac.cn;Correspondence JIN Ji-yun, Professor, Tel: +86-10-68918o00, E-mail:jyjinacaas.
ac.cn

02008, CAAS. All rightsreserved. Publishedby ElsevbrLtd.

410

THE PRESENT STATE OF FUE IN CHINA

Fertilizer use efficiency is an important index to judge
whether the fertilizer has been rationally applied. The
FUE on a large-scale can normally be estimated through
two methods. One is referred to as a macro approach.
With this method, the amount of fertilizer applied and
the yield of grains in the tested area are collected, along
with variables of the yield and the fertilizer applied in
unit sown area each year, and the maximum yields from
unfertilized and fertilized areas. The FEU can be
estimated based on the above information (Chen T B
et al. 2002). The result calculated in this way normally
differs from the number that is actually measured from
the field. The more commonly used method is through
field research. Since field experimentationis influenced
by many factors, such as soil, water, and weather,
hence the tested FUE varies with areas and crops.
Therefore, a considerable number of field trials is
required with this approach.
Zhu and Wen (1992) reported that nitrogen use
efficiency (crop recovery of N in the first crop) by
wheat, rice, and maize ranging from 28 to 41% in China
after summarizing 782 field tests. The phosphorus use
efficiency (crop recovery of P in the first crop) was
much lower than that of nitrogen and potassium
fertilizers. This was due to its chemical reaction with
the iron, aluminum (in the south), and calcium ions in
the soil after its application. The phosphorus use
efficiency of the first crop varied between 10-25% in
China, as shown by the large-field test and potted-plant
tests, including isotopes tracer tests (Xiong and Li
1990). According to the statistics of 849 large-field
tests in the entire country offered by the Institute of
Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing,
the phosphorus use efficiency by rice was 8-20%, with
an average of 14%, the number by the wheat was 626%. The potassium use efficiency in China was higher
than that of phosphate fertilizer, and the number was
roughly 50% (Li ef al. 1998; Zhu and Wen 1992).
Results from a total of 165 field trials of wheat, corn,
and rice, tested in 50 selected villages in 20 provinces
in China in 202-2005 indicated that the N use efficiency
of the first crop ranged from 8.9 to 78.0% with an
average of 28.7%; P use efficiency of the first crop
ranged from 3.0 to 49.3% with an average of 13.1%;

YAN Xiang et al.

and that of K ranged from 4.5 to 82.8% with an average

of 27.3%. It can be seen that the FUE in general in
China is rather low.

C O N V E N T I O N A L A P P R O A C H TO
INCREASE FERTILIZER USE EFFICIENCY
The commonly used measures to increase FUE in
agricultural practice can be summed as following: 1.
Right rate. When the level of nitrogen fertilizer
application is low, the crop yield will increase with
increasing amount of nitrogen fertilizer. When the
amount of nitrogen fertilizer exceeds the limit, the crop
yield will decrease instead of increase. At the same
time, N loss will increase with the increased application
rate of nitrogen fertilizer, and the nitrogen use efficiency
will drop. Hence, the amount of nitrogen fertilizer
applied should be controlled in a right range. 2. Control
of fertilizer application along with water. Water plays
an important role in the process of nitrogen circulation
and its absorption by crops. In actual practice,
appropriate nitrogen and water application should be
considered together, and the features of crop growth
at different stages should be taken into consideration.
Comprehensive approach is often propitious to increase
FUE. In paddy field management, certain new
approaches, such as applying fertilizer without water
stand in the field and stimulating N movement with
water are often used to improve FUE. 3. Deep
placement and split application. Deep placement is one
of the best practices to improve fertilizer use efficiency
with stable effect, Research revealed that deep placement
of ammonium bicarbonate and urea increased crop yield
by 2.7-11.6%, compared with surface application, at
the same time, nitrogen use efficiency was also increased
by 7.2-12.8% (Gao and Lu 2006; Huang and Pu 2006).
Compared to one-off application, split application can
increase nitrogen use efficiency and decrease the losses.
4. Balanced fertilization. Balanced application of
nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, along with secondary
and micro-elements can guarantee a balanced supply
of all the essential nutrients for normal growth. This
technique can avoid inefficiency of fertilizer due to
imbalanced nutrients. The key point of this technique
is to control the proportion of different nutrients, and
the balance between the crops demand and the amount

Q2008,CAAS. All rights reserved. Publishedby Elsevier Ltd.

Recent Advances on the Technologies to Increase Fertilizer Use Efficiency

of fertilizer applied at all stages of growth.

With the development of technology and science,
new techniques and approaches have been applied in
the agricultural production practice. Apart from
traditional methods, new techniques have been
developed such as site-specificheal-time nitrogen
management, slow releasekontrolled release fertilizer
(SRKIW), site-specific precision nutrient management,
and ureasehitrification inhibitor. Those techniques play
an important role in decreasing fertilizer loss and
increasing FUE. Though some techniques have not
been applied widely in China due to various limitations,
their potential is quite vast. Hu and Li (2005) pointed
out that precision farming has triggered a series of
changes in the way of thinking and agricultural
management, and these changes would become the
technical basis of the sustainable development of
agriculture, rational utilization of resources, and
meliorating bio-environment; thus they had great
significance.

NEW DEVELOPMENT IN INCREASING FUE

Site-specific/real-time nitrogen management
(SSRTNM)
Traditional methods of recommendation in fertilization
involve gathering, treatment, testing, and analysis of
samples, and calculation of data, which cost a lot of
human and material resources with low output. Many
field crops display symptoms obviously under the
nitrogen stress. The old leaves lose green color if the
plant lacks nitrogen. On the contrary, if the nitrogen is
over-applied, the leaves appear dark green and turn old
slowly. This physical feature is used to develop a new
method, that is by observing the color of leaves to
evaluate the nitrogen nutrient state. This method was
developed in the 1990s and has been widely used in
practice. Minolta chlorophyll meter (SPAD) is used to
evaluate the nutrient state of plants and proper advice is
given to fertilization. In this way, chlorophyll relative
content is detected without hurting the plant. The
working mechanics of SPAD is to evaluate the nitrogen
nutrient state on the basis of the relationship between
chlorophyll content and nitrogen content in the leaves.

41 1

The concrete steps are as follows: First, the chosen

leaves of the tested plant are inserted into the SPAD to
get the chlorophyllvalue by sensitization;then chlorophyll
value can be gained on the basis of the relationship of
nitrogen content in the plant; finally the nitrogen content
in the crop can be obtained.
RTNM and SSNM are new techniques of managing
nitrogen fertilizer developed on the basis of using SPAD
to guide the fertilization. The earliest application of
nitrogen fertilizer management was for the
recommended fertilization of rice. SPAD value which
is gained through testing the color changes at different
stages is compared with the scale of recommended
amount of fertilizer to decide whether to add fertilizer
and the amount to add (Peng et al. 1996). The most
obvious advantage of this method is that the time and
amount of fertilizer applied fit well with the actual
demand of the crops. Peng et al. (1996, 2002) had
used SPAD to guide the rice nitrogen fertilizer
management. Their research showed that the SPAD
mode can increase nitrogen agronomic efficiency
significantly than the fixed-term nitrogen application.
SSNM decides the amount of fertilizer that would be
given to the crops on the basis of comprehensive
elements. Under this way, valid supplement of nitrogen,
phosphorus, and potassium in the soil, the yield, the
nutrient consumed by stalk, and weather feature are
taken as necessary index, which are analyzed through
fertilization decision system, and then the best amount
of fertilizer application is decided as the scale (Peng
et al. 1996; Liu et al. 2006). Finally, the amount of
fertilizer to be used is decided according to the SPAD
value of the leaves.
It is very important to decide the SPAD threshold.
Peng et al. (1996) claimed that SPAD value 35 is suitable
for most tropical indica rice breeds. He et al. (2007)
demonstrated that SS/RTNM could readjust the
relationship between the yield and quality of rice.
Whereas, the key step is to decide the proper scheduled
SPAD threshold on the basis of the features and qualities
of breeds of rice. Under his experimental conditions,
SSRTNM model recommends SPAD38-39 for one
variety, and SPAD 35-37 for another variety,
respectively.
When SPAD is used to diagnose the crop nitrogen
nutrients state under field conditions, different periods

Q.2008,CAAS. All rights reserved. Publishedby Elsevlerltd.

YAN Xiang et al.

472

and positions tested lead to various results. Hence,

proper periods and positions should be chosen for the
diagnosis. Otherwise, the result will be affected.
Scientists claimed (Li Z H et at. 2005) that the best
diagnosis periods for maize is from 9th-leaf to 10thleaf period; and the best position is the middle part of
the uppermost leaves. The SPAD value of chlorophyll
and the total nitrogen content in plant and nitrogen rate
are closely related. The relationship between them can
be used as a tool for the diagnosis of nitrogen nutrients
state of maize. However, there are gaps between the
SPAD results which are gained from different test sites.
In this case, an independent diagnostic index should be
established. Another choice is to use relative chlorophyll
SPAD value of leaves to present the state of nitrogen
nutrients of crops. When the latter method is used,
SPAD will achieve 66.7% in prediction precision for
recommended fertilization for summer maize.
SPAD is characterized by its convenience, swiftness,
efficiency, and not causing trauma. The most important
point is that it can lessen the rate of nitrogen fertilizer
and raise FUE.At present, SPAD has been widely used
in rice (Peng et al. 1993). wheat (Wood et al. 1992),
rapeseed plant (Zhu et al. 2006), and maize (Li Z H
et al. 2005). It is shown by Liu et al. (2006) that
SSNM can reduce the rate of fertilizer applied by 38.741.3%, raise the output by 2.5-3.5%, and increase
nitrogen use efficiency and physiological nitrogen
transformation by 34.0-39.5% and 46.1-61.6%,
respectively, when compared with the traditional ways.
Despite many advantages over the traditional practice,
SPAD has its own limitations. It can only test an area
as small as 6 mm2,so the number of samples it can test
is limited. Thereafter, the nitrogen content tested using
this method is just a rough estimate based on those
limited points. Comparatively, spectrum analysis
technique demonstrated its advantages by its swiftness
and economy. Its mechanism is that malnutrition in

plants causes changes in color, thickness, and shape of

leaves and those changes triggers spectrum reflection
traits. A test model is quickly set up to evaluate the
nutrition state of the plants, through which the
information of plant nutrients content spectrum analysis
technique is obtained. This technique is one of the
necessary and indispensable techniques in variant
fertilization and irrigation of precision farming. It suits
better than SPAD in supervizing the crop nitrogen
content in large fields.

Slow release/controlled release fertilizer (SR/

CRF)
One of the reasons for the low FUE is the imbalance
between the time and intensity that fertilizer gives off
its nutrient and the demands of crops. Slow release/
controlled release fertilizer is produced by controlling
the water-solubility of common fertilizer. The nutrient
release is efficiently controlled or delayed by improving
the fertilizer itself, which matches the release time and
intensity with the demands of crops (or basically match)
(He et al. 1998). This method can assort with the
demands of nutrients by crops and the supply of
nutrients, therefore increase the yield. It is believed to
be the quickest and most convenient way to decrease
the loss of fertilizer and increase FUE (Table).
SRF mainly delays the release of the nutrients and
extends the fertilizer effect period. CRF combines
acceleration and delay of the nutrient release from the
fertilizers, it can control the speed of nutrient supply.
Urea-formaldehyde fertilizer is the earliest SRF in the
world which was invented in 1924. CRF appeared with
the development of SRF. The earliest SRF in China
was developed by the end of 1960s and the beginning
of the 1970s. The Institute of Soil Science, Chinese
Academy of Sciences, successfully invented granular
ammonium bicarbonate long-term ammonium

Table Comparison of crop yield and fertilizer use efficient between controlledhlowrelease fertilizer and common fertilizer
Site
Longkou City, Shandong
(Ma er al. 2006)
Changsha City
(Liu et af. 2002)
Sanyuan County, Shannxi
(Fan and Liu 2004)

Crop
MaiZe

Rice.
Winter wheat

Fertilizer
Polymers coated controlled-release
nitrogen fertilizer
I5N labled controlled-release
nitrogen fertilizer
FMP coating urea

Yield increase compares

with control (96)
. .
36.2-46.6%
25.5%
9-1546

FUE increase compares

with control (%)
. ,
12.5-25.21
34.9%
15-168

Q2W,CAAS. All rights reserved.Publlshedby Elsevierltd.

Recent Advances on the Technologies to Increase Fertilizer Use Efficiency

bicarbonate and long-term urea coated by calcium

magnesium phosphorus fertilizer followedby other kinds
of SIUCRF. Beijing Institute of Landscape Gardening
and Beijing Chemical Industry Research Institute
developed resorcinol-formaldehyde resin-coated
compound fertilizer jointly in 1985; the Institute of
Agricultural Modernization, Chinese Academy of
Sciences (Now the Center for Agricultural Resources
Research, Institute of Genetics and Developmental
Biology, CAS) invented coated urea two years later;
technical faculty of Zhengzhou University managed to
produce coated SR/CRF in recent years; China
Petroleum and Chemical Cooperation and China National
Hybrid Rice R&D Center jointly developed the latest
type of hybrid-rice-specific SCRF.
There are many types of SR/CRF which can be
divided into three types as follows. The first type is
coated SIUCRF which has two sub-types: 1) mineral
coated fertilizer (mainly consists of sulfur, silicate,
gypsum, and phosphoric acid), and 2) organic polymer
coated fertilizer which mainly consists of natural highmolecular materials (such as starch, fibrin, and
caoutchouc), compound high-molecular materials (such
as polyethylene and PVC), and semi-compound highmolecular materials (such as ethyl cellulose). -The
second type is constituted by coating material SIUCRF
which is a kind of compound of mono-/multi-nutrient
coating another kind of nutrient. Common coating
materials are urea, humic acid, potassium sulfate, and
diatomite. The third type is compound low-grade
solubility SIUCRF with finite water-solubility, such as
urea-formaldehyde fertilizer, IBDU, and FMP.
Features of nutrients release are a significant index
for evaluating the quality of SWCRF. Many researchers
have done a lot of research with this regard both in
theory and in field experimentation (Zhai et al. 2002;
Du et al. 2003,2005). However, there is still a vacancy
concerning the standard of product quality and method
of evaluation. The features of nutrients release of SR/
CRF are affected by a series of environmental elements,
such as crops nutrients peculiarity, soil texture, fertilizer
quality, moisture, and temperature. The features of
nutrients release vary a lot according to different types
of SIUCRF. The curve feature of organic nitrogen CRF
is a quick release at the beginning and a slow release in
the last quarter or one third part, which is quite different

47 3

from that of S type. The model of polymer coated

CRF is parabola-shaped, linear, and S-shaped. This
kind of fertilizer is suitable for short-term crops,
perennial plants, and trees during their transitionalperiod
from hibernation to biogas, and is able to supply
nutrients when they are needed. It is believed that the
ideal curve should be a combination of S-shape and
linear-shape so as to avoid the explosive release at
the beginning and the dragging-on effect at the end.
There are two common methods to evaluate the
nutrients release features of SWCRF: water/solution
solubility method and soil leaching method. In the first
method, SIUCRF is extracted in water or salt solution,
then the solubility within a given period of time is
calculated. This is the most commonly used method,
because it is easy and quick to use. However, there are
some discrepancies between this method and the real
practice due to different situations. The latter simulates
fertilizer-soil system to measure the nutrients content
that has been released from the fertilizer. This method
is more close to the reality, because it reflects the release
feature of fertilizer in the soil solution.
In the past 10 years, an increasing number of
developed countries paid more attention to the damage
caused by overuse of fertilizers. The labor price is
very high in the developed countries. Hence, the SR/
CRF which saves labor and reduces environment
pollution has been undergoing quick development. From
1983 to 2005, the increase of SIUCRF in the USA
was 4.2%per year; that in developed European countries
was 2.8%per year, In 2005, the worlds total product
of SWCRF was 7.28 million tons, amongst which the
USA consumed 4.95 million tons which occupies 68%
of the worlds total consumption. In many countries,
due to the high price, SWCRF is mainly used in nonagricultural crops, such as flowers, lawns, golf courses,
seedling nursery, and cash crop with high added value.
Only a small portion of SIUCRF is used in large field
production. Therefore, SWCRF has not really played
its role in agricultural production.
SIUCRF is still at the initial stage of research and
development in China. Though some of the techniques
have reached advanced level of the world, the entire
situation still lags behind (Zhang et al. 2005). The
supporting equipments are relatively underdeveloped.
The techniques are kept secret amongst research

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474

institutes. Different institutes develop their coating

technique individually with no exchange amongst
themselves. Therefore, there are many cases of
repetition on low levels and retard development. SW
CRF produced in China cannot meet the needs of
matching the release and demand of crops. The fertilizer
cannot reach the index of self-controlled release with
high technique contents. Moreover, the prices of SW
CRF are much higher than that of normal fertilizer,
which is hard to be accepted by farmers. Due to the
above-mentioned factors, it is difficult to implement
the SWCRF in practice. At present, SWCRF occupies
only a small portion in the total amount of production
and consumption of fertilizer. Judging from the present
situation, it is very hard to realize the target of increasing
FUE and decreasing the loss of nitrogen fertilizer.
Whereas, the consumption of fertilizer keeps growing
in China; it is essential to guarantee the quality of
products and to meet the demands of environmental
friendliness,energy-saving,and sustainabledevelopment
of economy. SWCRF is undoubtedly one of the best
solution for this situation. The key step is to solve the
urgent problems as follows: 1) to lower the prices of
SCF to reduce the cost by farmers; 2) to establish and
publish necessary regulations and standards of the SCF,
such as the releasing function to guarantee the quality
of SCF; 3) to set up a national research platform for
the commonweal system (public appropriate funds with
research institutes and implementing organizations
participating) and enterprise system (with enterprise
investment, development center, production and
consumer farmers participating) to solve the technical
problems arising from the conflicts between national
target, company target, and fanner interest (Zhang et al.
2005).

Farmland nutrients precision management

technique
Precision farming is a revolution in agriculture by
combining modern spatial data technology and
agronomical technology. It precisely and elaborately
determines and manages the material that will be put
into the field according to the concrete conditions of
each operation unit. It turns the traditional highconsumption and low-efficiency production model into

YAN Xiang et al.

a high-efficiency and low-consumption style by saving

a lot of materials and protecting the environment (Hu
and Li 2005). Precision fertilization applies fertilizer
precisely and timely according to the soil and crops
demand pattern to meet the needs of crops at different
stages. It achieves the highest economic effect by
investing the least fertilizer; hence, it increases the FUE
and improves the agricultural eco-system.
Precision farming technology can be divided into four
parts concerning the implementation procedure:
obtaining field data, managing the data, analysis and
decision-making, and decision application in the fields
(Zhao 2000). The field data can be obtained by way of
traditional sampling, GPS (global position system)
guided sampling, and remote sensing. The precision of
GPS is up to a decimeter level and centimeter level.
The remote sensing is quicker than the previous two
methods, and it obtains continuous data rather than spot
data, which is more advantageous. It is becoming the
major means of obtaining data for precision farming.
GIs (geographic information system) establishes the
field management information system by processing,
analyzing, and trimming the data of soil and crops.
Other examples of GIs applications are field boundary
map management, soil fertility management, yield
distribution curve, and management. Relative
management software is under further development
(Zhao et al. 2003).
Precision fertilization is one of the most widely used
and mature techniques in precision farming decision
analysis and decision-making. First, it obtains the data
of soil nutrient (such as available N, P, K, pH, organic
matter content) and the growth of crops. Second, it
makes out the diversity of field spatial property. Then
it reaches the decision of fertilizer application on the
basis of variable-rate fertilization decision analysis
system, the model of crop growth, and demand for
nutrients. Finally, it realizes the precision fertilization
by DGPS (differential geographic information system)
technology and variable-rate fertilization monitoring
system. Several experiments in Guangxi of China
showed that precision fertilization increases the nitrogen
use efficiency on rice and maize by 7.8%, average,
when compared with traditional way of fertilization (Lu
and Wu 2004).
Regionalized balanced fertilization technique is

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Recent Advances on the Technologies to Increase Fertilizer Use Efficiency

developed on the basis of precision farming. It divides

a large field into different management units according
to the planting patterns, soil nutrient supply capacity,
fertilizer application status, agro-type, and soil texture
to implement recommended fertilization. This is an
effective approach developed to reach the macro control
and improving the precision in fertilization for relatively
small- scale land operation system in China, and it helps
to realize the balanced fertilization, foster soil fertility,
and increase the FUE and output (Huang et al. 2002b).
The concrete steps are 1)to analyze the spatial variability
and distribution of soil nutrients by combined use of
GIs, GPS, and geostatistics, so as to produce a
distribution map of soil nutrients; 2) on this basis, the
tested area is divided into different regions based on the
soil nutrient status and yield goal of crops; and 3) then,
balanced fertilization is recommended for each region.
Regionalized balanced fertilization technique has been
used at different levels in terms of management units:
farms field level (Li Y Y et al. 2005), towns level (Huang
et al. 2002a), and county level (Huang et al. 2003).
For a relatively large scale (township level and above),
the key step is to select and decide the appropriate
sampling density and sample spatial scale, which will
affect the decision-making of regionalization of nutrient
management. Regionalized balanced fertilization
technique is a good approach to help to realize relatively
precision nutrient management and balanced fertilization
in large areas under the separated small-scale land
operation in China at the present time.
After more than two decades of development,
precision farming has been used widely in developed
countries in Europe and America. A survey conducted
at 447 US farms showed that precision farming related
techniques was used in 70% of the agricultural
production. The techniques used were mainly precision
fertilization, precision seeding, precision application of
pesticides, and yield monitoring (Jess 2004). Despite
the above fact, Zhao et al. (2003) pointed out that
precision farming technology system is still in its
enfant state; it needs further development and
consummation. The check point of the research of
precision farming is the attainment of high-density field
data and the establishment of an applicable decisionsupporting system according to the data (Zhao et al.
2003). The above two aspects are the key points in the

475

development of precision farming in the future.

China started to search in the development of
precision farming since the 1990s. Precision farming
model experiment areas have been set up in Beijing,
Shanghai, and Xinjiang. The situation in agriculture
production sector in China is so different from the
developed countries, in terms of farmers education,
mechanization, operating scale, and so on, so that the
precision farming techniques developed in developed
countries cannot be adopted directly in China. It is
necessary to set up a precision field nutrients
management model which suits Chinas situations.
Nowadays, there are some urgent problems to be solved:
1) The attainment of high density field data (mainly soil
nutrients). There are big discrepancies in farmland
nutrients due to the fact that the management of fields
is conducted by individual farmers in a relatively small
scale. The technique which quickly and precisely
collects, tests, and analyzes the data of soil chemical
properties on a large scale with a high density needs to
be developed. The presently used traditional sampling
and laboratory analysis methods are costly and time
and labor demanding. 2) The establishment of decision
support system of fertilization, that is how to solve the
deficiency in practicality, compatibility,and applicability
of the present expert system. 3) The development and
production of small-sized variable rate fertilization
equipment, which will help to realize and popularize the
precision variable-rate fertilization for small-scale land
operation in China.

Ureasehitrification inhibitor
Urea is the most widely used nitrogen fertilizer in China,
It accounts for more than half of the total chemical
nitrogen fertilizer consumptioneach year. When applied
into the soil, with the effect of urease in the soil, urea
will be hydrolyzed and the formed NH,can be volatilized,
which causes heavy economic loss and environmental
pollution. Urease inhibitor delays the water-dissolution
of urea and extends the time that urea diffusion at
fertilizer application spots. In this way, the density of
NH,+and NH,in the soil can be lowered and the loss of
ammonia by volatilization being reduced.
There are more than a hundred types of urease
inhibitor after 30 years of development. The main types

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416

include quinines,acidamide,polyacid, polyphenol, humic

acid, and formaldehyde. Amongst them, the most
widely used are NBPT (thiophosphric triamide) and HQ
(hydroquinone). NBPT restrains the volatilization of
NH, under alkaline soil and good vent ability conditions.
HQ can reduce the loss of NH, by delaying the
hydrolyzing of urea. More importantly, it affects the
ongoing transformation of urea hydeolysate
(Wakabayashi et al. 1986). HQ receives wide attention
for its low price compared to other urease inhibitor (Yu
and Zhang 2006; Wang 2002; Li 2002). Iodic salt of
heavy metals, such as Hg and Ag has been proved to be
effective urease inhibitor, but they cannot be used in
agricultural practice, because heavy metals can cause
pollution to the soil.
Humic acid urease inhibitor is a kind of
environmental-friendly urea synergist. The forepart
research and report concentrated on its effect on the
soil urease inhibitor and its effect on increasing the yield
(Lu and Wang. 1994; Liu et al. 1994a; Fan and Ye
1995). In recent years, scientists conducted research
on the effect of humic acid matter on physiological
metabolism. Cheng et at. (1995) claimed that under
the condition of low temperature stress, fulvic acid could
enhance the activity of SOD and CAT of Cole seedling,
raise the ascorbic acid content, restrain the production
of MDA and relieve the damage on chlorophyl, and
maintain physiologic function of cells, to accelerate
photosynthetic rate and root activity, and lower
respiratory rate considerably. Liu et al. (1994b) and Li
et at. (2004) discovered that humic acid matter could
improve the quality of crops. Coal humic acid could
improve the growth of crops by facilitating the
absorption of nitrogen and increase the FUE of urea
nitrogen besides its good effect inhibiting (Li et al. 2004;
Gao et al. 2004). It has a good potential and is suitable
for further development due to its low price, rich source,
incontamination, and safety to plants and soil.
Nitrogen fertilizer takes nitration reaction under the
action of edaphon in the soil. NHloxides into NO;
under the action of ammonium oxidation bacteria, and
then oxides further into NO,- under the action of
ammonia-oxidizing bacterium. Nitrification inhibitors
can restrain the transformation of NH,+ into NO; and
NO;, then reduce the loss of NO; by leaching. It can
also reduce the production of NO, gas due to nitrification

YAN Xiang et al.

and denitrification, and reduce the loss of nitrogen

leaching, then increase the nitrogen use efficiency.
Normal nitrification inhibitors are cyanoguanidine
[dimeric of cyanamide, dicyandiamide (DCD) for short]
and 2-chlorine-6-(trichloromethyl)pyridine (nitrapyrin
for short). The DOW company in the USA developed
the latter into a product called N-serve due to the
instability of 2-chlorine-6. Several researches show
that the combination applicationof nitrification inhibitors
and nitrogen fertilizer can decrease the loss of nitrogen
and increase the nitrogen use efficiency. Shang and
Gao (1999) reported that the mixed application of DCD
and ammonium acid carbonate on wheat can restrain
the nitrogen ammonium nitrifying into nitrate nitrogen
and the volatilization of ammonia. The research on
nitrapyrin conducted by Owens (1981) discovered that
the loss of NO; by leaching fell from 48 to 35% when
nitrapyrin was applied compared to its absence. Wang
et al. (2006) investigated the effect on outlet of NO, by
N-serve and its combination with sands under different
soil water levels. The result indicated that the overall
outlet of NO, dropped by 65% when N-serve was
applied under low water condition (14.2%); the overall
outlet of NO, fell by 62.1% when N-serve was applied
with sands under high water condition (28.5%).
A lot of research results have proved that single use
of urease/nitrification inhibitor can only restrain some
process of urea nitrogen transformation, while a joint
application of them can control the overall process so
as to decrease the loss of NH, by volatilization and the
loss of NO,-N by leaching and increase the WE. Jiao
et al. (2004), Chen et al. (2005), and Chen L J et al.
(2002) pointed out the HQ+DCD combination decreased
the soil activity of urea, and restrained the oxidation of
urea hydrolysis, and retained its exchange form as NH,'
in the soil more effectively compared to the individual
use of HQ, DCD, ECC (nitrification inhibitor coated by
calcium carbide), and NBPT. Restraining the oxidation
reduces both the accumulation of NO; as oxide, and
potential eluviations of NO;, hence controls the leakage
depth of NO,- into the soil within 5-10 cm. The
restraining can at the same time increase the total amount
of effective N in the soil, and enhance the absorption of
N by crops. It is reported by some researchers that
when HQ +DCD are applied together, the outlet of NO,
and CH, are reduced by 1/3 and 112, respectively (Zhou

02008,CAAS. All rights reserved. Publishedby ElsevierLtd.

Recent Advances on the Technologies to Increase Fertilizer Use Efficiency

et al. 1999).

Perfect ureasehtrifimtion inhibitor should not only

restrain the volatilization of NH, and the loss of NO,-N
by leaching, but also have no negative effect for the
growth of crops so as to guarantee full absorption of
nutrition by crops and the best yield effect. This is an
important principle in filtering ureasehitrification
inhibitor. Despite that they have taken some effect in
agricultural production, inhibitors have not been widely
applied throughout the world. In most countries they
are still under testing and research. Their effects on
production are not stable and are easily affected by
factors, such as inhibitor dosage, fertilizer dosage,
environment temperature, pH and the quality of soil.
Moreover, most of them are high in price, have some
toxic on crops, and are likely to cause environmental
pollution. Hence, it is hard to apply them in agricultural
production on a large scale. The direction for the
agricultural scientists in the future is to develop highlyeffective, safe, cheap, and innocuous urease/nitrification
inhibitors.

EXPECTATIONS
In the second half of the twentieth century, China
managed and have successfullyimproved its agricultural
production to support the worlds 22%population by
9% of the worlds arable land, which has been highly
evaluated by the international community. Fertilizer use
contributed greatly to the grains production in China.
At present, China is facing a great challenge in food
supply to support the increasing population with its
limited arable land in the twenty-first century. It is vital
for China to further develop techniques that continue
to increase crop yield, improve FEU and mitigate the
pressure on environment to guarantee the food supply,
and bio-environment protection. Therefore, it is
recommended that the following tasks be reinforced.
1)To expedite the development of new types of fertilizer
and the upgrade of normal fertilizer; to develop lowcost and high-efficiency coating materials and SR/CRF
for certain types of crop; to set up the standard for
quality assessment and environment evaluation of SW
CRF; to develop the research on organic fertilizers
fermentation quickly at high temperature, and the
deodorization compound bacteria screening and

477

combination; to develop key techniques in highefficiency granular-making glue material; to conduct

research on organic and mineral compound fertilizer
production; to accelerate the key steps in the research
on liquid fertilizer (Jin 2005). 2) To investigate the
ecological and physiological mechanisms of improved
FEU by crops, to develop new techniques to further
improve crop yield with high fertilize use efficiency, to
integrate and further improve nutrient resource
management systems that guaranteeshigh yield and highquality crop production with high fertilizer use efficiency
and improved environmental quality. 3) To investigate
the physiological and genetic mechanisms of crop
genotypes in nutrient use efficiency discrepancy, to
improve crop nutrient use efficiency through the use
of bio-technology, to filter and cultivate new types of
crop which bear genotypes that effectively utilize the
nutrient, to implement the melioration of plant nutrient
characters so as to improve plant nutrient utilization.
4) To establish national and regional information
management systems and supervision platform of
nutrient resource utilization, to monitor the soil fertility
status and crop responses to fertilization at the national
and regional scales; to set up scientific fertilization
decision-making system and environment evaluation
alarming system, so as to realize rational allocation and
effective utilization of fertilizer resources on national
and regional scales.

Acknowledgements
This study was supported by the National Basic
Research Program of China (2007CB 109306) and
International Plan Nutrition Institute, China Program.

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