China Agriculture View

Most farmers consider that fertilizer is good for crops that the more the better.Some parts of the world, including much of China, use far too much fertilizer.Farmers in north Chinas use approximately 525 pounds of fertilizer per acre every year.

While the use of synthetic fertilizer has greatly increased agricultural production globally—helping to feed a global population that is not slowing down.Fertilizer runoff has polluted many coastal regions creating “dead zones” where the ocean is starved of oxygen by the influx of nitrogen.

However, there are critics of the ‘green revolution’, who point to the environmental and health impacts of depending on synthetic fertilizer and pesticides.Yet, even places which have drastically—and successfully—scaled back the use of synthetic fertilizers, pollution still remains a major issue.Society may have to face some difficult decisions about modifying food production practices if real and ecologically significant reductions in nitrogen loss to waters are to be achieved.