The Institute of Soil and Fertilizer at Qinghai Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences (QAAFS) was established in 1951 and is the only scientific research institution in Qinghai Province dedicated to soil, fertilizer, resource, and environmental research. The institute consists of six research departments: Plant Nutrition, Agricultural Resources and Environment, Agricultural Microorganisms, Tillage and Green Manure, Agricultural Product Quality and Safety Risk Assessment, and Analysis and Testing Center.
The institute operates six national and provincial research platforms, including the National Agricultural Environment Xining Observation and Experimental Station, the Agricultural Product Quality and Safety Risk Assessment Laboratory of MARA (Xining), the Xining Agricultural Environment Science Observation and Experimental Station of MARA, the National Green Manure Technology Industry System Xining Comprehensive Experimental Station, the National Famous, Special, and New Agricultural Products Nutrition Quality Evaluation and Identification Agency (Xining), and the Institute of Agricultural Product Quality Standards and Testing at QAAFS.
Its main research areas include plant nutrition and precision nutrient management, agricultural land resource utilization and management, agricultural environment and ecological protection, soil improvement and quality evaluation, soil microbial utilization, green manure germplasm resource evaluation, water-saving agriculture and water-fertilizer integration, soil heavy metal monitoring and evaluation, agricultural product quality and safety risk assessment, and new fertilizer development.
The institute manages 30 mu of field observation plots, including a 30-year long-term positioning experiment on potassium cycle dynamics in the soil-crop system, two national monitoring sites for agricultural non-point source pollution under MARA, and two long-term experiments on green manure crop stubble retention and fertilizer reduction. It currently has 22 employees.
Key achievements:
- Registered biological organic fertilizer products with MARA and developed six new organic fertilizers, significantly contributing to Qinghai’s organic fertilizer industry.
- Established the Qinghai Province Agricultural Product Origin Environmental Safety Information Management Platform, addressing agricultural product origin safety, security authentication, and soil heavy metal pollution evaluation.
- Developed water-soluble fertilizer formulas and water-fertilizer coupling technology models for specialty crops such as wolfberry, greenhouse vegetables, and forage.
- Registered one macronutrient water-soluble fertilizer, applied for six patents, formulated four local standards, and identified seven scientific research achievements.
- Conducted soil heavy metal surveys covering 8.13 million mu of cultivated land in key and facility agricultural areas, gathering 500,000 soil environmental quality data points and establishing a provincial agricultural environmental monitoring network.
- Researched nitrogen nutrient management, slow-release special fertilizers, mechanized mulching, hole-seeding technology for dryland spring rapeseed, green manure nitrogen fixation, and organic fertilizer substitution.
- Developed an integrated technology model for fertilizer efficiency and chemical fertilizer reduction, achieving a 12-15% increase in fertilizer utilization efficiency and a 25% reduction in chemical fertilizer use, resulting in significant cost savings and efficiency improvements.
- Trained agricultural environmental monitoring technicians in 28 agricultural counties over the past decade.
- Conducted research on agricultural product safety, quality control, traceability, risk assessment, and early warning technologies for Qinghai’s agriculture and animal husbandry industries.
More information (in Chinese): https://nky.qhu.edu.cn/jgsz/kxyjbm/19203.htm.
