China charts high yield low input pathway for staple crops

China charts high yield low input pathway for staple crops
by Riko Seibo
Tokyo, Japan (SPX) Aug 15, 2025

China's scientists have reviewed two decades of green technology advances to answer a pressing question: how to raise output while cutting inputs and emissions. Their analysis of major food crops from 2000 to 2022 shows strong productivity gains alongside improved fertilizer efficiency and lower nutrient losses.

By 2022, combined rice, wheat, and corn output was 58 percent higher than in 2000, driven primarily by yield growth with only an 8.6 percent expansion in planted area. Yield per unit area climbed 56.7 percent for wheat, 40 percent for corn, and 12.9 percent for rice, while corn production surged 162 percent.

Resource use became more efficient. Fertilizer application peaked in 2016 and fell by 0.83 million tons by 2022, including a 9.4 percent reduction in nitrogen fertilizer. Nitrogen use efficiency rose from 27.5 percent to 41.3 percent, meaning more grain was produced per unit of nitrogen applied.

Integrated Soil-Crop System Management (ISSM) combines variety choice, sowing time, and plant density to better align light capture and nutrient supply. In North China trials, ISSM lifted corn yields by 91.2 percent versus traditional practice, while cutting active nitrogen loss by 30 percent and greenhouse gas emissions by 11 percent.

Root Zone Nutrient Regulation Technology times nitrogen to crop demand across growth stages, raising corn yields by 8 percent while trimming nitrogen use by 25 percent. Rhizosphere Nutrient Regulation optimizes fertilizer placement and microbial interactions near roots, boosting rice yields by 20.2 percent with a 20 to 30 percent cut in nitrogen.

Challenges persist. With population growth and expanding livestock production, China's corn demand could rise 30 percent by 2050. Many fields still show nitrogen and phosphorus surpluses, and organic resources remain underutilized, leaving circular-nutrient opportunities on the table.

The authors outline four priorities: precision management of organic resources, wider use of enhanced-efficiency fertilizers, scaled deployment of rhizosphere nutrient regulation, and intelligent nutrient management via digital tools. Fully implementing ISSM by 2050 could add 45.8 million tons of rice, 115 million tons of wheat, and 360 million tons of corn while lowering environmental costs.

Research Report:Innovations in green technology for increasing major grain crop production and efficiency in China