Researcher Xu Minggang from the Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning (IARRP) of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) led the completion of the "China's Typical Dryland Soil Phosphorus Evolution and High-efficiency Utilization Technology Creation and Application", which won the 2020-2021 Shennong China Agricultural Science and Technology Awards' First Prize by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.

In response to the problem of unclear evolution characteristics of phosphorus in dryland soil and lack of systematic and efficient phosphorus utilization technology, the researchers carried out 30-year long-term experiments in typical drylands, combined with field experiments and model analysis, and clarified the evolutionary characteristics of phosphorus in dryland soil. Key technology for efficient utilization of phosphorus has been established, and applied, and major technological innovation has been achieved.

The project also clarified for the first time the characteristics of phosphorus evolution in dryland soil and created a prediction model for soil available phosphorus. It was found that the evolution of phosphorus in dryland soil is driven by the dual factors of phosphorus surplus and soil properties. The conversion efficiency of phosphorus  budget has been created, a soil available phosphorus prediction model applicable to various regions has been set up, with a prediction accuracy of more than 85 percent. In addition, the project clarified the agronomic and environmental thresholds of soil available phosphorus under wheat and corn cropping systems, and realized the regional classification of the levels of soil available phosphorus in different regions. And clarified that the current agronomic threshold for corn and wheat is 16-30 mg/kg, and according to the response relationship between soil phosphorus loss potential and available phosphorus, the environmental thresholds of soil available phosphorus in different regions were obtained.

The project also created key technologies for efficient phosphorus utilization, such as fertilization by soil available phosphorus level, carbon synergies, biological activation, acid adjustment and synergistic efficiency, and achieved large-scale application in dryland in 8 provinces including Heilongjiang and Jilin provinces, reducing the application of phosphate fertilizer by 20 percent to 30 percent, increasing the yield of wheat and corn from 7.5 percent to 11.5 percent, increasing the utilization efficiency of phosphate fertilizer from 6 percent to 8 percent, and making significant economic, social and ecological benefits. The project provided technical support for the implementation of national plans and actions such as the National Fertilizer Reduction and the 2020 Zero Fertilizer Growth Action.