Profile - Northeast / Northcentral China
Map of Northcentral China
Regional Background
Wheat, maize and vegetables are the main crops in North Central China. In 2009, the planting area of wheat, maize and vegetables in North-central China is around 12.1, 10.5 and 4.9 million hectares, accounting for about 50%, 33.8% and 26.8% of national level, which produces 57.6%, 35.7% and 38.2% of national total wheat, maize and vegetable production. Henan, Shandong and Hebei are the first top three provinces in planting area and total production, and then followed by Shanxi, Tianjin and Beijing. In most cases, Shandong, Henan and Hebei achieved the maximum yield of maize, wheat and vegetables, respectively. Crops yields in Tianjin and Beijing are higher than Shanxi, but with limited planting area. North Central China included Hebei, Henan, Shandong, Shanxi, Beijing and Tianjin.
The maize planting area has kept the trends of increasing since 2000, and wheat and vegetable planting area remains a slowly decreasing or stagnant except Henan.
Table 1 Acreage, average yields, and total production of main crops for 2000, 2005, 2010
Crops | Year | 2000 | 2005 | 2009 | ||||||
Province | Planting area | Production | Yield | Planting area | Production | Yield | Planting area | Production | Yield | |
Wheat | Beijing | 121.7 | 66.9 | 5497 | 53.3 | 27.0 | 5009 | 60.6 | 31.0 | 5118 |
Tianjin | 121.7 | 59.5 | 4889 | 98.9 | 47.0 | 4793 | 110.2 | 54.0 | 4903 | |
Hebei | 2678.8 | 1208.0 | 4509 | 2377.1 | 1150.0 | 4839 | 2394.5 | 1229.8 | 5136 | |
Shanxi | 893.2 | 215.2 | 2409 | 721.0 | 202.0 | 2806 | 727.5 | 211.1 | 2902 | |
Shandong | 3748.2 | 1860.0 | 4962 | 3278.7 | 1801.0 | 5492 | 3545.2 | 2047.3 | 5775 | |
Henan | 4922.3 | 2236.0 | 4543 | 4962.7 | 2578.0 | 5194 | 5263.3 | 3056.0 | 5806 | |
Maize | Beijing | 135.8 | 58.7 | 4323 | 119.7 | 63.0 | 5230 | 150.8 | 89.8 | 5954 |
Tianjin | 131.2 | 41.0 | 3125 | 138.8 | 73.0 | 5274 | 165.9 | 88.7 | 5349 | |
Hebei | 2478.6 | 994.5 | 4012 | 2677.4 | 1194.0 | 4459 | 2950.5 | 1465.2 | 4966 | |
Shanxi | 793.7 | 354.8 | 4470 | 1183.7 | 616.0 | 5205 | 1451.2 | 654.3 | 4508 | |
Shandong | 2413.9 | 1467.5 | 6079 | 2731.4 | 1735.0 | 6354 | 2917.3 | 1921.5 | 6587 | |
Henan | 2201.3 | 1075.0 | 4883 | 2508.3 | 1298.0 | 5175 | 2895.4 | 1634.0 | 5643 | |
Vegetables | Beijing | 107.8 | 489.1 | 45375 | 88.6 | 423.9 | 47843 | 68.5 | 317.1 | 46300 |
Tianjin | 128.3 | 530.6 | 41356 | 129.7 | 542.7 | 41846 | 80.8 | 373.9 | 46262 | |
Hebei | 866.1 | 4454.0 | 51426 | 1104.8 | 6467.6 | 58541 | 1100.9 | 6742.1 | 61240 | |
Shanxi | 242.1 | 920.3 | 38010 | 244.9 | 901.5 | 36813 | 245.0 | 893.1 | 36448 | |
Shandong | 1788.4 | 7256.8 | 40577 | 1847.7 | 8607.0 | 46582 | 1756.0 | 8937.2 | 50896 | |
Henan | 1189.2 | 3981.8 | 33483 | 1595.9 | 5880.2 | 36846 | 1692.2 | 6370.4 | 37645 | |
Fertilizer consumption in the region: The North-central region occupies 29.0% of national total NPK fertilizer consumption, but it is not balanced across different provinces/cities. Henan and Shandong consume the first and second rank of the regional fertilizer production for both chemical and compound fertilizer, and then followed by Hebei, Shanxi,Tianjin and Beijing. Although N and P2O5 consumption in 2009 decreased in some provinces such as Shandong and Shanxi, the fertilizer K2O and compound consumption increased as compared with those in 2000 and 2005.
Table 2 Fertilizer consumption for different provinces of Northcentral Region (10000 T)
Year | 2000 | 2005 | 2009 | |||||||||
Province | N | P2O5 | K2O | Compound | N | P2O5 | K2O | Compound | N | P2O5 | K2O | Compound |
Beijing | 10.5 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 6.1 | 7.8 | 1.2 | 0.6 | 5.2 | 7.0 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 5.2 |
Tianjin | 9.2 | 2.0 | 0.7 | 4.7 | 11.6 | 3.7 | 1.5 | 6.6 | 12.4 | 4.0 | 1.6 | 8.0 |
Hebei | 148.0 | 43.8 | 16.8 | 62.0 | 155.2 | 48.6 | 24.3 | 75.4 | 153.0 | 47.4 | 26.3 | 89.4 |
Shanxi | 42.2 | 19.8 | 5.1 | 19.8 | 41.1 | 19.0 | 6.9 | 28.8 | 38.7 | 18.9 | 8.1 | 38.7 |
Shandong | 198.6 | 57.8 | 36.8 | 130.0 | 189.8 | 57.5 | 44.9 | 175.5 | 165.0 | 51.4 | 46.5 | 210.0 |
Henan | 205.7 | 97.2 | 36.7 | 79.9 | 227.2 | 106.1 | 50.8 | 134.1 | 239.4 | 116.6 | 59.8 | 212.9 |
General comments on agriculture in the region
North-central China is not only the great production base for grain crops, but also a major production base for vegetables. About 29% of national chemical fertilizer has been applied in this region, but not balanced among different provinces/cities. Better nutrient management in this region is of great importance for food security for China and also for better life of the people.
Major Plant Nutrition Issues in the Region
Low nutrient use efficiency caused by poor nutrient management: about 1/3 of the national fertilizer has been applied to this area, which represents ¼ of the arable land for grain and vegetable production. Over and imbalanced fertilizer especially excessive N application and not balanced with P and K has been applied on wheat/maize and greenhouse vegetables in this region. A recent investigation from across 595 field experiment in North Central demonstrated that the farmers applied 230 kg N/ha, 96 kg P2O5/ha and 63 kg K2O/ha averagely, and about one third of farmers apply over 300 kg N/ha on winter wheat. This over and imbalanced fertilization has led to inefficient use of nutrients. The research results indicated that the average agronomic efficiency of N, P and K in North-central China is 9.5 kg/kg, 23.0 kg/kg and 7.6 kg/kg, respectively, and the corresponding recovery efficiency values are 35.2%, 17.8% and 23.7%, separately. Over fertilization with N, organic additions and insufficient supply of K used in the region, remains big issues for greenhouse vegetable system as well.
High environmental risk caused by bad nutrient management: Continuous winter wheat and summer maize cropping without balanced and efficient use of fertilizers, and over fertilization in vegetables has contributed to not only losses in yield and profit, but also to environmental problems such as groundwater nitrate-N contamination and eutrophication of rivers. A 1998 investigation of groundwater nitrate-N content in Shouguang County of Shandong province showed that 29% of 80 samples exceeded 45 mg NO3–1 L–1, and the percentage increased to 49% in 2001. Therefore, cooperation on optimized nutrient management practices is urgently needed to maximize crop yield and maintain soil fertility while minimizing environmental impacts.
Future Opportunities:
IPNI, China-North Central Region, has developed research and educational programs on balanced fertilization following the 4RS Nutrient Stewardshio, the right source at the right rate, time and place, in collaboration with national institutes of agriculture of the region, universities, farmer's organizations, agronomists associations, and others. Most of this work is shown at this website and in other activities such as publications, presentations and training sessions, and field meetings.
