ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Sustain. Food Syst.
Sec. Agroecology and Ecosystem Services
Volume 9 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fsufs.2025.1669065
This article is part of the Research TopicSustainable Solutions for Agricultural Land Degradation and RecoveryView all articles
NPK Quota-based Fertilization: A Sustainable Strategy for Enhancing Fertilizer Efficiency and Mitigating Paddy Field Acidification and Environmental Costs in Chongqing
Provisionally accepted
- 1Chongqing Academy of Agriculture Sciences, Chongqing, China
- 2Chongqing Agro-Tech Extension Station, Chongqing, China
- 3Agricultural Technology Extension Center of Nanchuan District, Chongqing, China
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Widespread paddy field acidification in China has made many medium-and low-yield fields unsustainable due to excessive fertilization. This study determined optimal NPK fertilizer quotas for rice production in Chongqing by integrating yield levels with principles of matching total nitrogen (N), maintaining soil phosphorus (P), and adjusting potassium (K) to yield. Results showed recommended NPK quotas ranged from 104–185 kg N/ha, 44–84 kg P₂O₅/ha, and 18–35 kg K₂O/ha (lower limits) to 143–224 kg N/ha, 50–98 kg P₂O₅/ha, and 56–111 kg K₂O/ha (upper limits). Implementation of these quotas could reduce fertilizer use by 1,862 tons of N, 524 tons of P₂O₅, and 1,275 tons of K₂O, with the highest reduction potential in low-yield regions (2,109 tons N, 654 tons P₂O₅, and 268 tons K₂O). Notably, low-yield rice paddy fields exhibited significantly higher fertilizer application rates than medium-and high-yield fields. Excessive N and P use increases soil acidification, reactive nitrogen (Nr) loss, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and water eutrophication, exacerbating soil degradation. To address these issues, we propose revised N and P quotas (104–141 kg N/ha and 44–60 kg P₂O₅/ha), which reduced Nr loss, GHG emissions, soil acidification potential (SAP), and water eutrophication potential (WEP) by 18%, 6%, 18%, and 14%, respectively. This study proposes new NPK fertilizer application thresholds tailored to mitigating agricultural land degradation while improving agricultural productivity.
Keywords: N/P/K quota-based fertilization, Fertilization reduction, rice, Soil fertility maintenance, Paddy field acidification, Life Cycle Assessment, nutrient management
Received: 18 Jul 2025; Accepted: 29 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Wang, Yu, Wang, Zhao, Chen, Fu, Liang and Hu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Liujie Hu, Chongqing Academy of Agriculture Sciences, Chongqing, China
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