Objectives Excessive application of chemical fertilizers has always been a prominent problem which the China’s agriculture faces. In recent years, with the implementation of various fertilizer reduction measures, China achieved zero growth of chemical fertilizer for the first time in 2016 and achieved continuous reduction of fertilizer use in 2017 and 2018. The realization of this goal is of great significance to China and global nutrient management. The drivers of technology, policy, market and service system were analyzed deeply to reveal the comprehensive mechanism of fertilizer reduction in China.
Results In the past 15 years (2005–2020), the development of soil testing and formula fertilization, mechanized fertilization, fertigation, straw returning, organic fertilizer resource utilization and cultivation techniques are the main technical ways for fertilizer reduction in China. The increase in the proportion of organic fertilizer and straw returning to the field has replaced the application of chemical fertilizer to a certain extent. In 2010, 17 million tons of manure nutrients and 18 million tons of straw nutrients were returned to the field. At the same time, the implementation of multiple fertilizer reduction policies has provided institutional guarantee for the realization of fertilizer reduction in China. For example, the “Guiding Opinions on Promoting the Transformation and Development of Fertilizer Industry” promoted product innovation, “Chemical Fertilizer Zero Growth Action Plan by 2020”, “The Action Plan for the Utilization of Livestock and Poultry Resources (2017–2020) ”and “the Five Actions for Agricultural Green Development” have increased the awareness of fertilizer-saving and promoted adoption of efficiency-enhancing technologies. The demand of market for high-quality crops and the expansion of land transfer area has also become a powerful motivation for fertilizers. Among them, the increasing demand for high-quality agricultural products and the price advantage of high-quality agricultural products under the conditions of unstable agricultural product prices, coupled with the increase in the prices of chemical fertilizers such as urea and diammonium phosphate, also promotes the transformation of agricultural products to high quality, while at the same time, the land transfer accompanied by the popularization of mechanization also reduces the randomness and blindness of small farmers’ fertilization. In addition, the continuous improvement and development of the agrochemical services of the three service entities of the government, enterprises and scientific research institutes have solved the problem of the “last mile” of fertilizer reduction. At present, more than 70% of the fertilizer enterprises are doing agricultural training, experimental demonstration and other agricultural services. The ten-year soil testing formula fertilization led by the government has made 1/3 of the farmers’ fertilization tend to a reasonable level. The Science and Technology Back yard mode based on China Agricultural University also makes the main grain crops in 23 provinces and districts of China increase 10.8%–11.5% and the amount of nitrogen fertilizer reduced 14.7%–18.1%.
Conclusions China has already achieved the goal of zero fertilizer growth in 2020 ahead of schedule. Technology, policy and service systems have made an irreplaceable contribution to the achievement. This shows that China’s agricultural production has entered a new stage, however, the over application of chemical fertilizers in China is still common, and need a untiring work to realize a radical improvement in scientific application of chemical fertilizers.
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