Evolution and Efficiency Assessment of Pesticide and Fertiliser Inputs to Cultivated Land in China

Excessive use of pesticides and fertilisers has been a key issue limiting sustainable agricultural development. China is a typical pesticide- and chemical-fertiliser-dependent agricultural production area. We have matched the target indicators related to sustainable agricultural development (SDG1 and SDG2) and analysed the gap between China and four developed countries in terms of fertiliser and pesticide use intensity and efficiency from 2002 to 2016. We have used an improved Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index model and cluster analysis to identify the factors and effects driving increased pesticide and fertiliser inputs in China, and we discuss the exploratory effects of different provinces in reducing pesticide and fertiliser application and increasing efficiency. The findings reveal that (1) China is a typical pesticide- and fertiliser-dependent agricultural production area. The average combined fertiliser application efficiency in China from 2002 to 2016 was only 28% of that of the Netherlands, and the country’s average combined pesticide application efficiency was only 35% of that of the USA. (2) The most important of the three main drivers of the increase in pesticide and fertiliser inputs in China is the value added of the primary industry, contributing 56% for the period 2007–2016. (3) Further analysis at the provincial level according to four types—high-intensity high-yield type, high-intensity low-yield type, low-intensity high-yield type, and low-intensity low-yield type—clarified the provinces that should be focused on at the national level in terms of pesticide and fertiliser application reduction and efficiency increase in the future.

Yang Zonghui et al. used the SDM model to empirically study the main influencing factors of grain production in China's provinces and concluded that the amount of grain production in China's provinces is positively related to the size of the role of the actual watering area per unit and the amount of chemical fertilizers.
Wang Zeyu, Li Gucheng, Zhou Xiaosi Structure change of rural labor force,grain production and fertilizer using efficiency promotion;An empirical study based on stochastic frontier production function and Tobit model [11] Journal of China Agricultural University Wang Zeyu et a l. analyzed the positive relationship between agricultural labor structure and fertilizer application efficiency based on panel data using Tobit model study, which contributes to the production of food. The results showed that the fertilizer and pesticide use per unit sown area was significantly and negatively correlated with the average household sown area, which indicated that the expansion of the average household sown area would help to reduce the use of fertilizer and pesticide.

Yang
Jingjing Gao, Chao Peng, Qinghua Shi A study on high fertilizer use and fertilizer application behavior of smallholder farmers in China--findings based on data from fixed rural observation sites nationwide from 1995 to 2016. [19] Management World The problem of irrational fertilizer application is closely related to the production scale of farmers, and factors such as the small size of the average household land and the large degree of fragmentation determined by the national reality are important reasons for the higher fertilizer application by Chinese farmers than the world average. Wang Chunxiao took Xinjiang cotton region as an example, and the results showed that in the main cotton producing areas, the increase of cotton price was positively related to the scale of cotton farmers' production investment, including the increase of planting area and material inputs such as fertilizers and pesticides. However, when the cotton price decreases, cotton farmers do not reduce the production investment scale by reducing planting area, but choose to reduce fertilizer, pesticide and other material inputs in order to obtain relatively high net profit. The price levels of production factors such as fertilizers, pesticides, agricultural machinery and hired labor have less significant and less significant effects on various types of capital investments of farm households than the prices of agricultural products. When making production factor input decisions, their prices are not an important consideration, and they are generally based on years of farming experience with changes in expected income.
Liu Yong, Wei Junying An empirical analysis of the effect of agricultural product prices on fertilizer use [27] Rural Economy and Science-Technology The study found a positive relationship between agricultural commodity prices and fertilizer application, while other control variables fertilizer prices, fertilizer output rates, and policy variables showed negative relationships with fertilizer application.

Wang Meibu, Tian Minghua
Interrelationship between fertilizer application intensity and grain trade in China based on VECM model [28] Ecological Economy Wang, Mei-rabbit, and Tian, Minghua found that the price of agricultural products and farmers' income can make the fertilizer application intensity decrease, while the total import and export of food and the price of agricultural production materials can make the fertilizer application intensity increase.