Zhu Zhaoliang And The Research On Plant Nutrition Science In Modernchina

Fertilizer,the food of crops,plays an essential role in agriculture,and proper fertilization can greatly increase the per unit yield.Since the mid-20th century,great changes have taken place in fertilization in China.For example,scientific and balanced fertilization has replaced empirical and nitrogenous-only fertilization.Thanks to many researchers' years of hard work,such changes have not only witnessed the development of plant nutrition science,but also the transformation of the Chinese fertilizer policy.Zhu Zhaoliang,born on August 21,1932 in Qingdao,was admitted by the Department of Agriculture,Shandong University in 1949.In 1950,he transferred to the Department of Chemistry and graduated in 1953.Since then,he has been working in Institute of Soil Science,Academia Sinica,Nanjing.In 1993,he was awarded Tan Kah Kee Prize for Agricultural Science and was elected as the academic committee member of the Department of Biology,Academia Sinica.Many of Zhu's researches in plant nutrition have reached the top level in the world.Taking Zhu Zhaoliang and the development of Modern Plant Nutrition Science in China as the research object,the author finds it of great academic and social value to understand the researches on soil chemical fertilizer,to grasp the popularization and achievements of fertilization technique,and to master the changes and development of the fertilizer policy in China.The advanced western education Zhu has received in primary school and middle school and the four-year college life since his admission to Shandong University in 1949 helped him form the habit of rational thinking.Since 1953,he has been working in Institute of Soil Science,Academia Sinica,Nanjing after graduation.In the meanwhile,he was assigned to provide aid in Cuba for one year and worked as a farmer in Siyang for several years.Since 1974 when he began to research on soil nitrogen systematically,more than two decades has witnessed his growth into an academic leader and pioneer in the research of soil nitrogen from a layman.In his sixties,he joined Chinese Peasants' and Workers'Democratic Party and began to participate in the administration and discussion of state affairs.The family influence,school education,teachers' guidance,and leaders'support,particularly his own efforts all helped him grow into the academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.Zhu's research on soil nitrogen mainly focuses on increasing the utilization rate and reducing the loss of nitrogen.Taking the research mode of "research leading discipline",Zhu and his colleagues conduct the systematic research on the transformation and removal of the nitrogen in soil,mainly focusing on the theory and practice of the proper fertilization of nitrogen in crops(mainly paddy).He puts forward and demonstrates the proper usage amount of nitrogen on crops based on the theory of "regional average nitrogen usage as the macro control plus minor modification in a particular field".To realize both the agricultural productivity and environmental benefits,he traced the flow of nitrogen in soil by conducting systematic researches in Taihu Lake regeion and the Huanghuaihai Plain.Based on his observation in the farmland and the documents,Zhu finds the low utilization rate and high loss rate of nitrogen on seasonal crops,and concludes that the reduction of the loss rate of the nitrogen in the farmland is not only the key to increasing the productivity of the seasonal crops,but also helps a lot in reducing the non-point surface pollution.Zhu Zhaoliang makes a great contribution to the development of Plant Nutrition Science.He compiled such monographs as "Nitrogen in soils of China" and "Fertilizers in the Sustainable Development of China's Agriculture",ect.With reference to the design experience of long-term fertilizer experiment and the combination of the actual conditions in China,he conducted the unique long-term fertilizer experiment in Fengqiu Experimental Station in Henan Province with Qin Shengwu in 1986.As peer communication and cooperation plays an essential role in the development of the science,Zhu has organized two national conferences of researches on soil nitrogen.Besides actively participating in international academic communication himself,Zhu also recommends his students and colleagues to take part in Sino-foreign cooperation projects.By virtue of the Project of Agricultural Non-point Source Pollution launched by China Council for International Cooperation on Environmentand Development in 2003,Zhu and his peers from both China and abroad have conducted a comprehensive and systematic research on the agricultural non-point source pollution in China.Based on his investigation and deep knowledge of the agricultural non-point source pollution in China,he points out that the nitrogen and phosphorus pollution of the surface water in China mainly results from the livestock and poultry excrement in intensive farms,with the improper nitrogen fertilization in farmland coming next.As a plant nutrition expert,Zhu Zhaoliang is well aware of the great contribution of fertilizer to increasing the grain output in China.However,the seasonal utilization rate of nitrogen is only 35%despite the dramatic increase of the chemical fertilizer consumption.To reduce the pressure of grain output,decrease the agricultural operating cost and protect the environment,he has tried many means to ensure the sufficient food supply of high quality andrational str ucture to meet people's demand for food from different levels andperspectives.Zhu's great achievements in his research owes a lot to his unique academic style,which is composed of his devotion and persistence to his study objects,his personification and research mode of plant nutrition.His research style greatly features serving the agriculture,researching the theory,simplifying the techniques,daring to challenge and innovation,taking the sole researching object but covering various relevant fields.