Recommendations for Using Crop Straws to Produce Organic Ferti-lizers in Liaoning Province

Dan SONG

Liaoning Agricultural Development Service Center, Shenyang 110034, China

Abstract This paper introduces in detail the current situation of crop straw resources and comprehensive utilization in Liaoning Province and the basic situation of enterprises using crop straw to produce organic fertilizers.In addition, it analyzes in detail the problems existing in the production of organic fertilizers in Liaoning Province, and finally comes up with some recommendations for using crop straw to produce organic fertilizers.

Key words Crop straws, Organic fertilizers, Current situation, Liaoning Province

1 Introduction

As a by-product of agricultural production and one of the important agricultural renewable resources, crop straw has the characteristics of wide distribution, large output and stable supply.The sown area of crops in Liaoning Province was 43.613 million ha, and the total annual straw resources reached 38.7682 million t.The main types of straw are corn and rice, and others include straw of wheat, oilseeds, cotton and other cash crops.Among them, the weight of returning to the field was 6.592 5 million t, accounting for 17% of the total straw; the weight of feed accounted for 25.87% of the total; the weight of fuel accounted for 41.51% of the total; the weight of raw materials accounted for 5.52% of the total; the weight of straw burning accounted for 3.95% of the total; discarding and dumping accounted for 6.14% of the total.

2 Basic situation of enterprises in Liaoning Province that use crop straws to produce organic fertilizers

In recent years, Liaoning Province has been very concerned about the comprehensive utilization of crop straw.In particular, using crop straws to produce organic fertilizers is conducive to promoting the sustainable development of agriculture, improving the comprehensive competitiveness of agriculture, and ensuring the quality and safety of agricultural products.Besides, it can gradually reduce the application of chemical fertilizers and reduce the pollution caused by chemical fertilizer residues to farmland soil.The raw materials for the production of organic fertilizers in Liaoning Province are mainly livestock and poultry manure, and crop straws are used as additional raw materials, but the proportions are different, and they are auxiliary raw materials for the production of organic fertilizers.The basic situation of enterprises in Liaoning Province that use crop straws to produce organic fertilizers is as follows.

2.1 Number of organic fertilizer production enterprisesAs indicated in Fig.1, there were 13 organic fertilizer production enterprises in Liaoning Province at the end of 2000, and 48 enterprises in 2003.From 2004 to 2008, the change trend of the number of enterprises was not obvious, with an average of about 60.However, by the end of 2009, the number of related enterprises reached 87.By March 17, 2014, the number of related enterprises had rapidly increased to 137.The number of organic fertilizer production enterprises was on the rise as a whole.

Fig.1 Number of organic fertilizer production enterprises

2.2 Distribution of organic fertilizer production enterprises

From Fig.2, it can be seen that organic fertilizer production enterprises were mainly concentrated in five regions: Anshan, Shenyang, Dalian, Panjin and Chaoyang.The total number of enterprises in these 5 regions reached 89, accounting for 65.0% of the total in Liaoning Province.Among the 163 organic fertilizer products registered for production, there were 92 powder products and 71 granular products.

Fig.2 Distribution of organic fertilizer production enterprises

2.3 Price of commercial organic fertilizersAccording to different types of raw materials and nutrient content of commercial organic fertilizers, the ex-factory prices of organic fertilizers fluctuated greatly.The price of refined organic fertilizers was usually in the range of 300-2 000 yuan/t, among which 28 enterprises sold products at 500-1 000 yuan/t, accounting for 62.2% of the total number of refined organic fertilizer enterprises.The ex-factory price of bio-organic fertilizer was generally 500-2 000 yuan/t.

2.4 Application of commercial organic fertilizerIn terms of production volume, the annual yield of commercial organic fertilizers in Liaoning Province was 789 000 t.If it would be all consumed in the province, based on the application rate of 2 250 kg/ha, 350 700 ha of farmland would be applied with commercial organic fertilizers every year.At the beginning of 2011, we selected Liaozhong County, Haicheng City, and Fuxin County to investigate the application of organic fertilizers in Liaoning Province, and received 300 copies of questionnaires from farmers.The results of the questionnaire survey show that the buyers of commercial organic fertilizers were mainly large grain and vegetable growers with more than 1 ha of farmland.They mainly applied commercial organic fertilizers to crops with high economic value such as vegetables, fruit trees, and rice.From this we know that although farmers had a certain understanding of commercial organic fertilizers, whether they could spend money to buy and apply them to the farmland was mainly determined by the farmers’ purchasing power and the economic benefits of fertilizer application.

3 Main problems

3.1 Inadequate rules and regulations, and weak implementationWith the deepening of the organic fertilizer work in Liaoning Province, some regulations have been formulated in various places to ensure the continuous and stable development of organic fertilizer production and application.In the first place, land cultivation and land cultivation were included in the land contract, and the quantity and quality of organic fertilizer applied by land contractors were clearly stipulated.In the second place, a grade evaluation system for cultivated land has been formulated.When the land use right changes, the original contractor would be compensated or fined according to the land fertility.In the third place, it has established a reward and punishment system for land cultivation, rewarding farmers who accumulate more and apply more organic fertilizers, and punishing farmers who do not complete the prescribed amount of organic fertilizer application.Although these rules and regulations have strengthened the enthusiasm of farmers to accumulate, manufacture and use organic fertilizers to a certain extent, compared with the goals and tasks of fully utilizing bio-organic fertilizers, the relevant supervision and management mechanisms are still not perfect and there are deficiencies.In addition, due to the relatively low quality of farmers, the existing rules and regulations cannot be well implemented.The lack of sound rules and regulations and weak implementation are not conducive to the normal development of organic fertilizer work.

3.2 Inadequate attention of management department and insufficient investmentIn the management of organic fertilizer work, governments at all levels lacked sufficient attention.Some governments thought that organic fertilizers have slow fertilizer effects and a long cycle, and the achievements in grasping organic fertilizers were not outstanding.Some governments thought that chemical fertilizers are effective and can basically solve the current problems.Some governments thought that farmers are the masters of the land now, and it is up to the farmers whether to use organic fertilizer or not, and governments did not require to invest in such work.Therefore, the leadership and guidance on the promotion and application of organic fertilizers were gradually relaxed, or even given up, which seriously hindered the development of the organic fertilizer industry.In addition, insufficient attention led to insufficient government investment in organic fertilizer-related industries, resulting in slow development of the organic fertilizer industry in some areas.

3.3 Weak awareness of farmers about the importance of organic fertilizersDuring the questionnaire survey, we found that 30% of the farmers did not have the habit of applying organic fertilizers, 56% of farmers stated that the application of organic fertilizers does not necessarily produce high-quality agricultural products, and 67% of farmers believed that there will be less and less use of organic fertilizers.The results of the survey showed that most farmers did not think that the application of organic fertilizers has a good effect, and their enthusiasm for applying organic fertilizers is low.Firstly, this is due to the relatively low efficiency.For a long time, farmers have not been enthusiastic about fertilizing the soil.They only pay attention to land use instead of land cultivation.The amount of organic fertilizers is reduced and they rely solely on chemical fertilizers.Farmers are deeply aware of the benefits of applying organic fertilizers.However, due to the high cost of organic fertilizer development and utilization, and the lack of relevant policy support from the government, farmers are generally not motivated to apply organic fertilizer.Taking Sanjiazi Village, Gucheng Sub-district Office, Dengta City, Liaoning Province as an example, calculated at application of 2 000 kg of organic fertilizer per 667 m2, the cost for farmers to purchase organic fertilizer is 50 yuan/t, the transportation cost is 20 yuan/vehicle(2 t/vehicle), and the average investment of organic fertilizer per 667 m2is at least 100 yuan, equivalent to the costs for application of chemical fertilizers.However, after the application of organic fertilizers, no obvious economic benefits could be produced in that year, which made farmers unwilling to apply organic fertilizers.In terms of organic fertilizer application structure, there is also the problem of emphasizing cash crops and neglecting field crops.Affected by fertilization concepts and habits of farmers, organic fertilizers are mostly used for economic crops such as vegetables and fruit trees, while the amount used for field crops is quite small.Furthermore, the market economy is active, and the value concepts of farmers have undergone great changes.The traditional method of making farm manure is laborious and laborious, and the relative cost of commercial organic fertilizers is relatively high, all of which have caused farmers to be less motivated to apply organic fertilizers.

3.4 Backward production technology of commercial organic fertilizersIn the first place, production equipment is relatively backward.Due to the lack of funds, many enterprises update their production equipment slowly.Some production links still use manual operation, such as mixing, bagging,etc., so that the product quality cannot be effectively guaranteed.Secondly, there is lack of good strains.Although many enterprises in Liaoning Province use fungi in the fermentation process of organic fertilizers, the quality of the fungi used is poor.The reason is that China’s microbiology industry started late, the technical level is relatively backward, and the domestically cultivated strains are weak in functionality.Thirdly, the fermentation method is backward.The fermentation method directly affects the degree and speed of fermentation maturity, which in turn affects the quality of organic fertilizers, so it is an important link in the production process of organic fertilizers.However, most of the organic fertilizer production enterprises in Liaoning Province currently use flat land composting and fermenting tank fermentation.The fermentation time required by these two fermentation methods is very long, which directly affects the production speed of organic fertilizers.Influenced by many factors, many organic fertilizer production enterprises in Liaoning Province have low annual production capacity, high production costs, high commodity prices, and lack of market competitiveness.

4 Policy recommendations

4.1 Strengthening publicity and improving awareness of farmers about application of organic fertilizersIt is recommended to make full use of various media and publicity tools to increase publicity on the significance and technical measures of applying organic fertilizers, expand the scope of publicity, pay attention to publicity objects, publicity timing and publicity effects, and adopt various methods to carry out key publicity to the majority of farmers to improve the awareness of farmers about application of organic fertilizers.

4.2 Enhancing guidance and increasing investment to promote healthy development of the industryIt is necessary to further improve the relevant policies and regulations for the development of related industries, increase government investment, support the use of crop straws to produce organic fertilizers, strengthen industry regulations and management, and maintain healthy development of the straw industry.

4.3 Strengthening technology promotionIt is recommended to vigorously popularize and promote the application of organic fertilizers and reduce the use of chemical fertilizers.In accordance with the principle of overall planning and distributed implementation, taking the construction of organic fertilizer demonstration areas as the carrier, it is feasible to hold an on-site meeting, to directly publicize the technology to the leaders and farmers in a tangible and visible way.Besides, it is recommended to set up a model of organic fertilizer work, and give full play to the typical demonstration and leading role.

4.4 Effectively implementing the technology of straw decomposing and returning to the field and the application of commercial organic fertilizerSince 2009, the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Finance have initiated and implemented farmland protection and quality improvement subsidy projects across the country, subsidizing farmers for using organic fertilizers and straw decomposing agents.By 2014, the central government had invested a total of 97.05 million yuan, subsidizing a total of 90 700 ha of commercial organic fertilizers; subsidizing 278 700 ha of straw returning to the field for decomposing technology; and subsidizing 11 700 ha of comprehensive soil fertilization technology.On this basis, since 2010, the provincial finance had arranged a supporting fund of 37.5 million yuan(7.5 million yuan each in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014), and a total of 66 300 ha of commercial organic fertilizers have been added; 68 800 ha of straw returning to field decomposing technology had been implemented; 7 100 ha of straw carbonization returning to field technology had been implemented.By adopting policies and technical subsidy measures, farmers can be encouraged and guided to increase the amount of straw returned to the field, increase the application of organic fertilizers, and improve the quality of cultivated land, reduce the large environmental pollution caused by straw burning, promote the development of circular economy, and then transform the mode of agricultural production.The enthusiasm of farmers to apply organic fertilizer and return straw to the field has been greatly improved, which has guided and promoted the healthy development of the commercial organic fertilizer and straw decomposing agent industry, forming a virtuous circle welcomed by farmers, supported by enterprises, concerned by society and supported by the government.

Therefore, governments at all levels need to increase support for farmland protection and quality improvement subsidy projects, and better play the positive role of the project.