Research On The Logic And Effect Of China's Fertilizer Reduction Polic

Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China,chemical fertilizer application has made a great contribution to China’s food security and agricultural development.However,under the guidance of increasing yield,China’s chemical fertilizer input continues to expand and even abuse,causing serious negative impact on resources and environment.In this context,China has actively promoted chemical fertilizer reduction since the 21 st century,especially in 2015.So what is the logic of chemical fertilizer reduction? And how effective are different policies? The answer of these questions is of great significance to continuously and deeply promote the reduction of chemical fertilizer and solve the problem of excessive chemical fertilizer.This paper first analyzes the logic of promoting chemical fertilizer reduction,and then investigates the effect of chemical fertilizer reduction policy from four dimensions including quantity,structure,efficiency and cost,by using the survey data of fixed observation points in rural areas of China and county-level statistical data.The main conclusions are as follows:In terms of the logic of promoting chemical fertilizer reduction,firstly,the path of promoting chemical fertilizer reduction includes technical path and policy path.The former refers to improving chemical fertilizer technology,and the latter refers to using policy means to intervene farmers’ fertilization behavior.Secondly,specific policies to promote chemical fertilizer reduction include a series of policies from both chemical fertilizer industry and chemical fertilizer application.The purpose of market-oriented reform in chemical fertilizer industry is to optimize the supply of chemical fertilizer.In the aspect of chemical fertilizer application,economic incentive policies mainly in the form of subsidy are used to intervene farmers’ fertilization behavior,including the experiment of substituting organic fertilizer for chemical fertilizer in fruit,vegetable,and tea,and the reform of agricultural Three Subsidies.In terms of the influence of chemical fertilizer reduction policy on the amount of chemical fertilizer application,firstly,the experiment does not reduce the intensity of chemical fertilizer application on the whole.However,the intensity of chemical fertilizer application in fruit is significantly reduced,and the effect is more significant in the case of convenient transportation.In the case of vegetable,the experiment does not reduce the intensity of chemical fertilizer application.Further investigation of the dynamic effect shows that there is a lag in the experiment effect.Secondly,the reform of agricultural Three Subsidies helps to reduce the intensity of chemical fertilizer application,but the policy effect has a lag,and the policy effect depends on the strict implementation of the policy.Heterogeneity analysis shows that the reform significantly reduces the intensity of chemical fertilizer application for farmers with higher income and whose income is dominated by employed laborers,while has no similar effect on farmers with lower income and whose income is mainly from family operation.In addition,the reform helps to reduce the intensity of chemical fertilizer application in non-major grain-producing areas,but has no impact on major grain-producing areas.In terms of the influence of chemical fertilizer reduction policy on the structure of chemical fertilizer application,firstly,the experiment significantly reduces the proportion of nitrogen fertilizer application overall,and the effect is more significant in the case of convenient transportation.Secondly,the reform significantly reduces the proportion of nitrogen fertilizer application on the whole,the absolute coefficient expands in the second year of the reform,and the significance increases.In terms of the influence of chemical fertilizer reduction policy on the efficiency of chemical fertilizer utilization,firstly,the experiment fails to reduce the chemical fertilizer consumption in fruit.For vegetable,the experiment reduces chemical fertilizer consumption overall,but the coefficient is not significant statistically.The heterogeneity test shows that the experiment could reduce the chemical fertilizer consumption in vegetable under the condition of convenient transportation.Secondly,the reform fails to reduce the chemical fertilizer consumption of wheat,rice and corn.In terms of the impact of chemical fertilizer reduction policy on the cost of chemical fertilizer input,firstly,the experiment significantly reduces the cost of chemical fertilizer input of fruit in general,and the effect is more significant in the case of convenient transportation.In the case of vegetable,the experiment fails to reduce the cost of chemical fertilizer input.Secondly,the reform fails to reduce the cost of chemical fertilizer input on the whole.Heterogeneity analysis shows that the reform significantly reduces the cost for farmers with higher income and whose income is dominated by employed laborers,while has no similar effect on farmers with lower income and whose income is mainly from family operation.Based on the above research conclusions,this paper draws the following policy implications:In terms of the policy idea of continuously promoting the reduction of chemical fertilizer,on the one hand,it is to adhere to the overall idea of promoting the reduction of chemical fertilizer from the two aspects of chemical fertilizer industry and chemical fertilizer application,and pay equal attention to improve chemical fertilizer technology and use policies to intervene farmers’ fertilization behavior.On the other hand,it is to follow the differentiated policy idea and promote the reduction of chemical fertilizer application in different regions,farmers and crops according to local conditions.In terms of the specific measures to continuously promote the reduction of chemical fertilizer,the first is to promote the reduction of chemical fertilizer through the experiment of substituting organic fertilizer for chemical fertilizer in fruit,vegetable,and tea.Firstly,this study shows that the experiment significantly reduces the intensity and cost of chemical fertilizer application in fruit,and also significantly reduces the proportion of nitrogen fertilizer application in crop,which indicates that this policy achieves certain results in reducing chemical fertilizer application.However,this effect is affected by traffic conditions.This means that,in order to play the policy effect of the experiment better,it is necessary to strengthen the village road traffic,land consolidation and other supporting measures.Secondly,there is a lag in the experiment effect,which requires further follow-up research.Thirdly,this study shows that the experiment does not reduce the intensity of chemical fertilizer application in vegetable.This may be related to the small proportion of farmers operating protected areas in the data of fixed observation points,reflecting that the promotion of chemical fertilizer reduction technology will face challenges such as operation scale and mode.How to promote the reduction of chemical fertilizer application by ordinary farmers in traditional small-scale and decentralized way of agriculture is a key content in the future.The second is to promote the reduction of chemical fertilizer through the reform of agricultural Three Subsidies.Firstly,This study shows that the reform reduces the intensity of chemical fertilizer application and thus contributes to the protection of farmland fertility.This indicates that the reform has played a positive role in the protection of resources and the environment,and that the reform of China’s green and ecological agricultural subsidy system has achieved certain results,which has increased the confidence and determination of China to continue to deepen the reform and realize the transformation of green agricultural development.However,the effect depends on policy implementation.At present,the constraint mechanism on farmland fertility protection is still in the exploratory stage,and the link between subsidy and farmland fertility protection has not been strictly implemented,which should become the main direction of policy adjustment and improvement in the future.Secondly,farmers with low income and whose income is mainly from family operation have strong dependence on chemical fertilizer input,and the lack of constraint mechanism in the protection of arable land fertility is difficult to reverse and even strengthen the production behavior of these farmers relying on the expansion of chemical fertilizer input to ensure agricultural output.This dependence may be an important factor hindering chemical fertilizer reduction.This also reflects that it is necessary to give consideration to yield targets,environmental protection targets and interests of different farmers in the process of exploring an effective mechanism linking subsidy with arable land fertility protection.Thirdly,the environmental protection effect of the reform should not be separated from the changes of social and economic development conditions.This paper shows that the reform significantly promotes the reduction of chemical fertilizer for farmers whose income is mainly dominated by employed laborers.Therefore,agricultural environmental protection and rural labor transfer should be considered simultaneously in the future.