Ecological Intensification in China

New and better fertilizer materials, application methods and timings, and understanding of the plant nutrient management systems built into an Ecological Intensification (EI) management system will help guide farmers and their advisers to use the right products, at the right rate, in the right place, and at the right time to improve yields while protecting the environment.

The Global Maize Project in China includes (a) two A sites in Hebei and Jilin, respectively, (b) a short-term research B site, to evaluate factors of EI management and the effect of management practices implemented in EI, and (c) C sites for on-farm evaluations of omission plots.





Summer maize experiments in Hebei Province are located in Dahe, Xinji, and Hengshui. The A site experiment located in Dahe started in June 2009 with summer maize, and followed by winter wheat. Treatments include EI practices aimed at improving yields at a faster rate than farmers’ practices while minimizing adverse environmental impacts. Additionally, the ability of the Hybrid Maize simulation model to predict yield potential will be validated. The experiments in Xinji and Hengshui include N rate study and omission plots, and are meant to evaluate factors of EI management and provide data for yield gap analyses. “Differences between treatments were observed in the field and detailed results in terms of yield and fertilizer efficiency will be available soon,” commented Dr. He.