Comparison of fertilizer use efficiency in grain production between developing countries and developed countries

Partial Substitution of Nitrogen Fertilizer with Biogas Slurry Increases Rice Yield and Fertilizer Utilization Efficiency, Enhancing Soil Fertility in the Chaohu Lake Basin

To investigate the effects of biogas slurry substitution for fertilizer on rice yield, fertilizer utilization efficiency, and soil fertility, a field experiment was conducted on rice-wheat rotation soil in the Chaohu Lake Basin for two consecutive years, with the following six treatments: no fertilization (CK), conventional fertilization (CF), optimized fertilization (OF), biogas slurry replacing 15% of fertilizer (15% OFB), biogas slurry replacing 30% of fertilizer (30% OFB), and biogas slurry replacing 50% of fertilizer (50% OFB). The field experiment results showed that, compared with CF treatment, OF treatment in 2022 and 2023 significantly increased (p < 0.05) rice yield, promoted the uptake of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) by grains and straws, improved fertilizer utilization efficiency, and increased the contents of soil organic C (SOC), NH4+-N, NO3--N, hydrolysable N, and available P. The 15% OFB and 30% OFB treatments significantly increased (p < 0.05) rice grain and straw yields compared with CF treatment, and rice grain and straw yields were the highest in the 30% OFB treatment. Compared with CF and OF treatments, 30% OFB treatment significantly increased (p < 0.05) the N, P, and K uptake of grains and straws and increased the fertilizer utilization efficiency. Compared with CF treatment, the grain yield of 50% OFB treatment was significantly decreased (p < 0.05) in 2022, and there was no significant difference in 2023, which may be because the biogas slurry was applied before planting in 2023 to provide more nutrients for early rice growth. Compared with CF treatment, 30% OFB treatment significantly increased (p < 0.05) the contents of SOC, NH4+-N, available K, and hydrolysable N. In summary, optimizing N and K topdressing methods can increase rice yield and improve the fertilizer utilization efficiency and soil fertility. The 30% OFB treatment resulted in the highest rice yield, fertilizer utilization efficiency, and improved soil fertility, indicating that biogas slurry replacing 30% of fertilizer was the best application mode for rice in this region.

Regional differences of individual and allocation efficiencies of health resources in China

Background

The existing health resources and services are difficult to meet the needs of rapid economic development and the aging population in China. This paper evaluates the regional differences of individual and allocation efficiencies of health resources in China to explore ways to change the current situation.

Methods

The models of single-input single-output efficiency (SISOE), single-input multi-output efficiency (SIMOE), multi-input single-output efficiency (MISOE), and multi-input multi-output efficiency (MIMOE) were developed to calculate the individual and allocation efficiencies of health resources of China in this study.

Results

It was found that the efficiencies of the number of health institutions (NHI) in the eastern and western regions of China were relatively close, with values of 0.61 and 0.59, respectively, significantly higher than 0.49 in the middle region. The efficiencies of the number of health personnel (NHP) in the eastern, middle, and western regions were closer, with values of 0.77, 0.75, and 0.79, respectively. The efficiencies of the number of health institution beds (NHIB) in the eastern and western regions were very close, with values of 0.79 and 0.78, respectively, while that in the middle region was 0.72. The efficiencies of the total health expenditure (THE) were 0.72, 0.76, and 0.79 in the east, middle, and western regions, respectively. The efficiencies of the number of diagnosis and treatment persons (NDTP) were 0.81, 0.70, and 0.71 in the eastern, middle, and western regions, respectively, while the efficiencies of the number of inpatients (NI) were 0.75, 0.79, and 0.81, respectively. The efficiencies of the utilization rate of beds (URB) and the average days of hospitalization (ADH) in the three regions were below 0.51. The health resources allocation efficiencies (HRAEs) were 0.86, 0.83, and 0.87 in the eastern, middle, and western regions, respectively.

Conclusion

There were obvious regional differences in HRAE in China with the situation of "Middle Collapse." The main direct reason for the low HRAE in the middle region was the lower efficiencies of NHI, NHIB, URB, and ADH. It revealed that there was relatively blind expansion of health institutions and beds with lower health service quality in the middle region. Governments should make strategic adjustments to public health resources and increase the investment in medical technology and manpower in the middle region. Hospitals in the eastern region should strengthen inter-regional medical and health technical cooperation with partners in the middle region by establishing a tele-medical network. The models of SISOE, SIMOE, MISOE, and MIMOE put forward in this study are simple, reasonable, and useful for resource efficiency analysis, which makes it convenient to adopt targeted measures to upgrade the efficiency of resource allocation. This study provides a new perspective and method to understand the mechanism of regional differences in China's health resource allocation efficiency.

Analysis on the changes of fertilization intensity and efficiency in China's grain production from 1980 to 2019

BACKGROUND

Relieving serious non-point source pollution of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) is an urgent task in China. It is necessary to explore the changing characteristics of chemical fertilization intensity (FI) and efficiency to provide references. A new method of 'relative productivity proportion weight', which was simpler than data envelope analysis, was proposed to construct models of fertilizer allocation efficiency (FAE) and chemical fertilizer integrated efficiency (FIE) by considering NPK multi-inputs and the grain output scale, respectively.

RESULTS

During 1980-2014, the FIs of NPK chemical fertilizers in China showed a significant growing trend. After reaching the highest value of 339 kg ha^-1 in 2014, FIs were reduced to 303 kg ha^-1 in 2019, higher than the 225 kg ha^-1 maximum safe usage internationally recognized. Meanwhile, the pattern of change of FAE was one of 'decreasing to increasing', with values of 1 in 1980, 0.66 in 2003, and 0.80 in 2019. FIE basically showed an increasing trend, which could be divided into three stages: the first stage of low efficiency during 1980-2009, the second stage of medium efficiency after 2010, and the third stage of high efficiency after 2018.

CONCLUSION

From 1980 until 2019, a reduction of FAE from 1 to 0.80 with an average of 0.75 was observed in China. FIE was found between 0.65 and 0.85 and had the potential of upgrading by 15-35%. Therefore, China needs to improve the fertilizer use efficiency in order to strive for negative growth of chemical fertilizer intensity and ecological agriculture construction. © 2022 Society of Chemical Industry.