Since 2015, in accordance with the plan of the Central Government, the Ministry of Agriculture has conducted in-depth zero-growth operations on chemical fertilizers and pesticides to promote the reduction and efficiency gains of chemical fertilizers and pesticides and achieved remarkable results. The scientific estimates show that in 2017, the utilization rate of chemical fertilizers for the three grain crops such as rice, corn and wheat in China was 37.8%, an increase of 2.6% over 2015; the pesticide utilization rate was 38.8%, an increase of 2.2% over 2015. At present, the use of pesticides has been a negative growth for three consecutive years, the use of chemical fertilizers have achieved zero growth, three years ahead of schedule to achieve zero growth in the use of fertilizers and pesticides by 2020 goal.

 
This year, the Ministry of Agriculture has perfected the regular release mechanism of fertilizer and pesticide utilization rate, organized the work on the estimation of utilization rate of chemical fertilizers and pesticides in 2017, the detailed methods and contents of estimation, relied on the promotion units of soil fertilizers and plant protection technologies at all levels, Crop arrangement of more than 2,000 chemical fertilizers, pesticide utilization field trials, random survey of nearly 20,000 farmers and more than 6,000 specialized service organizations, finishing a large number of test data. On the basis of data analysis, the mathematical model is used for the calculation, and the measurement results are compared with the long-term positioning monitoring data. Organized by the plant nutrition, plant protection in the field led by a panel of experts to fully demonstrate.

 
The economic and ecological benefits brought by the increase of fertilizer and pesticide utilization rate are remarkable. Mainly reflected in three aspects: First, cost-effective. According to expert estimates, the utilization rate of fertilizers increased by 2.6 percentage points, which is equivalent to a reduction of 1.3 million tons of urea (in-kind quantity) and a decrease of 2.6 billion yuan of production input. The utilization rate of pesticides increased by 2.2 percentage points, equivalent to a reduction of 30,000 tons of pesticide use (in-kind) and a reduction of production input of about 1.2 billion yuan. Second, improve quality and efficiency. Through the operation of zero growth of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, the Company reduced the amount of chemical fertilizers and pesticides and at the same time improved crop quality and created a green brand. In particular, we should take green prevention and control technologies such as ecological control, biological control and physical prevention and control to reduce pesticide residues, improve the environment in which agricultural products are produced, and ensure the quality and safety of agricultural products. Third, emission reduction and efficiency. Fertilizer utilization increased by 2.6 percentage points, a reduction of fertilizer input is equivalent to reducing nitrogen emissions by nearly 600,000 tons, saving 1.3 million tons of coal or 900,000 cubic meters of natural gas. The reduction of pesticide input is also conducive to energy conservation and resource conservation.