Technological innovation of controlled-release and stabilized fertilizers drives the improvement of fertilizer industry in China —Preface for special issue“preparation and efficient use of new types of fertilizers”

In a bid to improve the quality of manufactured fertilizers and the fertilizer usage efficiency in the country, the central government of China set up programs consecutively for 20 years, which began during the tenth “Five-Year-Plan". This sustained investment has been driving the rapid development of China’ s fertilizer industry, contributing more than 30% of the total increase in the foodstuff and industrial raw material production. In 2016, the government further set a target for gradual reduction in fertilizer usage increase and total stoppage by year 2020 to achieve a sustainable and healthy environment. Realization of this goal largely depends on the scientific and technological innovations. So far, the cost effective and high-quality slow/controlled release and stabilized fertilizers have been studied as one of the key technologies for past decades. During the 13th “Five-Year-Plan”, the research on these new slow/controlled release and stabilized fertilizers specifically made some technological breakthroughs in the knowledge of degradable membrane materials, continuous coating of urea in large-scale, application methods and environmental assessment. However, more work is still needed in this field, especially in the integration of the emerging technologies in coating materials for continuous production and efficiency of slow/controlled release fertilizer, and the user-friendly principles of applying biological inhibitors suitable for different soils, climates and crops. Thus, there is still a long way to go to sustain the development and demand of China’ s fertilizer industry.