The National Natural Science Foundation of China announced the results of its project review during its centralized acceptance period in 2022. The key fund project "Principles and Methods of nutrient synergistic optimization for Vegetables " led by Zhou Wei, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and researcher from the Innovation Team of Plant Nutrition of the Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning (IARRP) of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), has been funded.  

The excessive application of chemical fertilizers in China's intensive vegetable production has resulted in a serious waste of resources and environmental pollution, affecting the quality and safety of agricultural products. Elucidating the principle of the nutrient synergistic optimizationfor vegetables and establishing an advanced and efficient fertilizer recommendation method are essential for realizing sustainable vegetable production and ensuring the green development of agriculture.

The fertilizer recommendation method based on yield response and agronomic efficiency is a major innovation. However, unlike grain crops harvested at one time, vegetables are harvested in various organs and times, and their effects on nutrient absorption characteristics, yield response, agronomic efficiency, and the construction of fertilization models are unclear.

This project intends to target typical leafy vegetables, fruiting vegetables and root vegetables. Through field experiments, data collection and QUEFTS model analysis, the project aims to identify the characteristic parameters of nutrient absorption under different target yields; to establish the quantitative relationship between yield response and agronomic efficiency; to construct a nutrient recommendation method for vegetables based on yield response and agronomic efficiency, and to develop a fertilizer recommendation  system for vegetables.

In addition, the project also verifies, calibrates and optimizes the method from the aspects of agronomy, economics and environmental benefits, and establishes a new method for advanced and efficient nutrient recommendations for vegetables suitable for China's national conditions. It would provide a theoretical basis and realization methods for the nutrient synergistic optimization for vegetables, and provide scientific fertilization guidance for the sustainable production of vegetables.