Big news! Microbial fertilizer welcomes another major opportunity! This "Plan" clearly states!（2）

State support for scale expansion

China's microbial fertilizer industry started in the 1930s and has experienced three development stages: industrial start-up, production of bacterial products, and application of microbial fertilizers. By the late 1980s, the microbial fertilizer industry had entered a stage of accelerated development. The level of factoryization, industrialization, and commercialization was gradually improved, and the number of production enterprises, products, and promotion area increased year by year. According to the statistics of the Quality Supervision, Inspection and Testing Center for Microbial Fertilizers and Edible Fungi of the Ministry of Agriculture, as of now, the number of registered microbial fertilizer products in China is 4,890, of which 2,550 are officially registered and 2,340 are temporarily registered. According to incomplete statistics from the Ministry of Agriculture, there are more than 1,000 microbial fertilizer manufacturers in China, which is twice as many as 10 years ago and 8 times as many as 20 years ago.

The rapid development of microbial fertilizer industry in China is inseparable from the strong support of the state. In 2013, the State Council issued the "Bio-Industry Development Plan", which listed microbial fertilizer as a high-tech industry and a strategic emerging industry; the National Development and Reform Commission listed microbial fertilizer as one of the technologies that prioritized the development of modern agriculture. With the "National Overall Plan for the Construction of High-Standard Farmland" to build 800 million mu of high-standard farmland, "Action Plan for Zero Growth of Chemical Fertilizer Use by 2020" and "Action Plan for Zero Growth of Pesticide Use by 2020", and "Development of Fruit Vegetable Tea Organic Fertilizers to Replace Chemical Fertilizers" The implementation of "Action Plan" and other projects, as well as the development of projects such as the high-tech industrialization of green agricultural biological products and the improvement of cultivated land quality protection, have entered a fast-track development of the microbial fertilizer industry.

The diversity of microbial resources in China also lays the foundation for the development of the microbial fertilizer industry. According to statistics, the number of known species of viruses, bacteria and fungi in China is about 400, 500 and 8000, accounting for 8%, 10.5% and 11.6% of the world's known species of microorganisms, respectively. The huge species resources provide a guarantee for the development and screening of strains.

Problems are looming, hampering the industry

However, while the microbial fertilizer industry ushered in explosive development, it also exposed some problems.

First, it is difficult to select a meaningful, high-quality strain for production. The bacterial fertilizers on the market include single bacterial species and compound bacterial species. When multiple bacterial species are added, the number of bacteria will not increase due to the obvious antagonism or competition between different bacterial species. The fertilizer effect is limited and cannot meet the demand; some strains may also bring diseases to the soil and crops. Therefore, professional personnel are needed to select strains and conduct field trials.

Secondly, the production enterprises also have limitations. The strains produced by the companies that actually do microbial fermentation are relatively simple, and there are very few companies that have the fermentation capacity and technology of multiple microbial bacteria at the same time, so it is difficult to achieve the ability to produce multiple functional bacteria. As far as the production of a single strain is concerned, more companies only pursue quantity and do not care about quality.

Thirdly, in application, the stability of microbial fertilizers has also been criticized as the main problem. As a kind of live bacteria preparation, the effect of microbial fertilizer is limited by the method of use, environmental conditions, etc., and the effect is not very stable, which also affects the further promotion and application of microbial fertilizer products. The poor quality stability of microbial fertilizer products, poor application effect stability, serious duplication of single strains and products, unreasonable production process and high cost have become the key factors hindering the development of the industry.

In addition to the production technology to be improved, the promotion of microbial fertilizers also encountered some obstacles.

First, the awareness of end users is limited. As direct fertilisers, farmers have limited understanding of soil remediation and ecological agriculture. As a biologically active functional fertilizer, it is normal for microbial fertilizer to have a slow fertilizer effect. Because farmers can't see obvious effects right away, they are slow to accept them.

Second, many farmers do not know much about microorganisms. In the process of application, the sealing is not tight, which leads to the entry of miscellaneous bacteria, and whether it is stored in a cool place, some are exposed to the sun, and some are even used together with bactericidal pesticides, which reduces or even kills the microorganisms in the fertilizer. In addition, some manufacturers use shoddy products and hype the concept, which destroys the image of microbial fertilizers and hinders the promotion.

At present, the price of agricultural products is sluggish, and improving the competitiveness of agricultural products is the top priority. The key to improving quality and efficiency is the application of new functional fertilizers such as microbial fertilizers, which will inevitably increase production costs. Farmers, especially farmers of field crops, are reluctant to invest, making the quality of agricultural products poor. So back and forth, vicious circle.

Industrial adjustment to meet demand

According to statistics, around 1980, the sales of foreign bio-bacterial fertilizers only accounted for 15% of the sales of fertilizers. In the early 1990s, it rose to 52%, and now it has reached more than 70%. It is reported that there are currently more than 2,000 factories in the United States engaged in the production of small and medium-sized compound fertilizers, of which 1/10 produces bio-bacterial fertilizer by adding active bacterial agents or decomposed animal and plant manure, and the amount of agricultural microbial fertilizer has accounted for 50%. At present, China's chemical fertilizer consumption (physical amount) is about 130 million tons, and the microbial fertilizer consumption is only more than 10 million tons, accounting for about 7% of the chemical fertilizer consumption, and the market potential is very large.

So, what kind of microbial fertilizer era will we welcome in the future?

Microbial fertilizers have three major advantages. The first is to promote the efficient transformation of nutrients, the second is to promote the balance of microbial communities, and the third is to promote soil pollution remediation. With the in-depth adjustment of the planting structure, the corn and soybean crop rotation mode will continue to be promoted, and the area ofsoybean crops will be properly restored. By 2020, the soybean planting area will reach 140 million mu, an increase of 40 million mu. The planting area ofpeanuts will be stable at 70 million mu. At the same time, the zero-growth action of chemical fertilizers, the protection and improvement of cultivated land quality, the pilot program of protection and utilization of black land, the restoration of cultivated land pollution and degradation, the harmless treatment of livestock and poultry manure, and the comprehensive utilization of straw resources will also bring more opportunities for the development of microbial fertilizers.

It is believed that with the development of China's agriculture and the improvement of the quality of farmers, the microbial fertilizer industry will definitely develop and grow, and play its due role in increasing agricultural income, rural development and farmers' enrichment.