Current situation of chemical fertilizer application in agricultural production: farmers are willing to use organic if there is a subsidy

"fertilization is like smoking marijuana. You don't have to do it."

During the spring ploughing season, in Cong Yan Village, Yingqiu Town, Changle County, Weifang City, Shandong Province, the reporter saw Tang Lixin, a 53-year-old farmer who irrigated the land with his wife. Tang Lixin said that his land has a total of 4 mu, and it has not rained since it rained on December 27 last year, so he is watering the well beside the land and applying urea at the same time.

On Tang Lixin's land, there is still half a bag of urea. Tang Lixin said that when wheat was planted in autumn, he used compound fertilizer, 150 jin per mu of land, which cost 270 yuan, and at this time, he used 25 jin of urea. "it has been used in this way for more than 10 years. It is planted on the basis of experience." What the reporter saw on the ground was basically flood and fertilizer.

In Fujin City, Heilongjiang Province, farmers preparing for spring ploughing also have a huge demand for chemical fertilizer.

More than 80,000 jin of chemical fertilizer from Liu Junli's family, a big grain grower, is piled up like a hill. This year, his rice planting area has reached more than 80 hectares (15 mu per hectare), and the amount of chemical fertilizer used in each plot is about 1100 jin, including 2 bags of potash fertilizer, 4 bags of diammonium, 2 bags of urea, 3 bags of ammonium sulfate, and some silicon fertilizer. In previous years, the amount of chemical fertilizer used in a single plot of land was only 700 to 800 jin.

Talking about the input of chemical fertilizer, Liu Junli said: in the past, less chemical fertilizer was used in farming, and 20 to 30 jin per mu of land was invested. In addition, there was also a part of farm manure. Now, with the expansion of the scale of land cultivation, more chemical fertilizer has been invested. The input of chemical fertilizer has been increasing in the past few years, and it has to increase by more than 50 jin every year, otherwise it will feel that grain production will be reduced and you will not feel at ease.

Liu Gang, chairman of the green farmers' agricultural cooperative in Tongjiang City, Heilongjiang Province, has a deeper understanding of the use of chemical fertilizer. at present, the cooperative operates more than 8000 mu of land. Liu Gang said: the larger the scale of farming, the more dare farmers to invest in chemical fertilizers. At present, large-scale operation mainly depends on chemical fertilizers to increase output. Cooperatives of his size use about 10% more chemical fertilizer per hectare than farmers who cultivate less land.

"now farmers are supported by chemical fertilizer, and we also know that using too much chemical fertilizer will lead to soil fertility decline and soil consolidation, but it's like smoking marijuana. We don't have to do it." Liu Gang said.

Reduce the dosage, the heart is not strong enough

As the saying goes, "farming without dung is tantamount to fooling around." The use of farm manure can reduce the amount of chemical fertilizer and improve soil fertility. But farmers feel that it is not realistic to use farm manure on a large scale.

Tang Lixin says he hasn't used manure for more than 10 years. On the one hand, it is convenient to use chemical fertilizer, and now every household does not raise pigs, nor does it have the habit of accumulating manure. "in the past, when you used to use soil fertilizer, you could use a bag of compound fertilizer when planting in autumn. Now you don't use soil fertilizer, you have to use one and a half bags of compound fertilizer when planting in autumn."

Liu Junli told reporters that every year he buys some pig manure from the farm and goes up in the field after fermentation, but it is all on a small scale, and the grain grown is enough for his family to eat, and other plots have to rely on chemical fertilizers to achieve stable production and increase production. "Farm manure does have great benefits in reducing pollution and improving soil fertility, but it does not have such a large supply and high transportation costs, so it can only be used on a small scale."

In addition, the unscientific way of fertilization also increased the use of chemical fertilizer. In the interview, farmers generally reported that their fertilization method is mainly one-off fertilization before planting.

"one-time fertilization causes a lot of waste. When the seedlings first come out, they don't need so much nutrition, but when the nitrogen fertilizer goes to the ground, it is easy to evaporate and turn into nitrogen. When the seedlings grow up, the nutrients are almost lost, and the actual utilization rate of chemical fertilizer is only about 60%." Liu Gang said.

It is understood that layered fertilization or phased fertilization can reduce the amount of chemical fertilizer, but the labor cost will be greatly increased. Liu Gang said that stage-by-stage fertilization can increase the absorption rate of chemical fertilizer by crops, thereby reducing the amount of fertilizer used. "but if you use 200 yuan less chemical fertilizer and apply fertilizer in stages, you will have to spend 300 yuan more on labor costs. Farmers will still choose to apply more fertilizer.

If there is a subsidy, farmers are willing to use organic fertilizer.

In Hualong Town, Shouguang City, Shandong Province, there is a family farm covering an area of 230 mu, mainly growing vegetables. The reporter saw at the scene that the integrated facilities of water and fertilizer are uniformly used in the greenhouse of the farm, and the cost of each greenhouse is 800 yuan, which can be used continuously for six years, saving water and fertilizer, and saving labor.

The farm belongs to Shouguang City facility vegetable soil quality improvement technology demonstration area, since 2014 began to use microbial fertilizer, high-carbon organic fertilizer, soil testing formula fertilization technology, water and fertilizer integration. From the appearance, scientific fertilization makes the soil more loose.

In a cucumber greenhouse, farmer Jia Chongshan picked up a handful of soil and told reporters that after using bio-organic fertilizer (a kind of processed rice husk manure), the soil is not hardened, and it is fine and loose, and it is easy to penetrate after watering. It dries quickly, is not easy to breed epidemic disease, and crops absorb quickly, grow well, and can use less chemical fertilizer.

"the organic fertilizer used now has state and local subsidies, so the price is basically the same as that of ordinary fertilizer. If there is no subsidy one day, there will certainly be many farmers who choose ordinary fertilizer, because after all, ordinary fertilizer is cheap. " Jia Chongshan said.

Tang Lixin also wants to use organic fertilizer, at least the soil is not hardened. "but organic fertilizer is so expensive that we can't make any money from farming. Granular organic fertilizer costs 120 yuan per bag, while urea costs 80 yuan per bag. If the state can subsidize 40 yuan to make up for the same price as urea, we are willing to use organic fertilizer." Tang Lixin said.

In addition to the price of organic fertilizer, some big grain growers have other doubts.

In recent years, Heilongjiang Province has made great efforts to promote the use of organic fertilizer. Liu Junli said: the amount of organic fertilizer input is too large, and the amount of organic fertilizer used in one plot is nearly double that of chemical fertilizer at present. if it is used on a large scale, the machinery for fertilization will have to be changed, and the cost will be greatly increased. "what the common people consider is the benefit of farming. It is not impossible to use less chemical fertilizer, and the key is to make farmers cost-effective in order to be motivated."