Trends of phosphorus use efficiency in the food chain of China

Lin Ma1, Zhaohai Bai2, Wenqi Ma3, Gerard Velthof4, Oene Oenema4, Fusuo Zhang2

1 The Chinese Academy of Sciences, 2 China Agricultural University, 3 Agricultural University of Hebei, 4 Alterra, Wageningen University and Research Centre.

E-mail: malin1979@sjziam.ac.cn

5th Phosphorus in Soils and Plants Symposium, 29th September, Montpellier, France

Outline

1. Why study phosphorus (P) use efficiency in the food chain of China?

2. Definitions of phosphorus use efficiency (PUE)

3. Changes of PUE in the food chain of China

4. Options of sustainable P use in the food chain

Why study PUE in the food chain of China?

FAO database

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

1961

1964

1967

1970

1973

1976

1979

1982

1985

1988

1991

1994

1997

2000

2003

2006

2009

Cereals yield per agriculture land

Livestock density

Year

Changes relative to 1961, %

Year

Changes relative to 1961, %

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

8000

1961

1964

1967

1970

1973

1976

1979

1982

1985

1988

1991

1994

1997

2000

2003

2006

2009

Cereals yield per agriculture land

Fertilizer consumption

Year

Changes relative to 1961, %

Question: Is it a sustainable food system?

Atmosphere N2, NH3, N2O

Exports and losses

Surface watersGroundwater

Erosion and runoff

Leaching

N

Crop production（ soil accumulation ）

P

Animal productionimports

Food processing

Humanconsumption

NUFER model (NUtrient flows in Food chains, Environment and Resources use)

• Regional and national scale of China

• 1950-2010, and 2030

• 18 main crops• 11 animal

categories• Households in

rural and urban

(Ma et al., JEQ 2010)

Indicators of nutrient use efficiency

• P cost of food (kg/kg)

• PUEf - Phosphorus use efficiency in the food chain, %

• PUEc - Phosphorus use efficiency in crop production, %

• PUEa - Phosphorus use efficiency in animal production, %

(Ma et al., JEQ 2010)

P flows in food chain in China

Animal production

Food processing

Households

Crop production (soil)

Accumulation in soil 0

Imports

Exports/losses

0

0.3 (19%)

1.3 (81%)

1.6 (100%)

0.6 (37%) exports

0 exports

0.1exports

0.6 (60%) losses

0.5 exports

0.2 (20%) losses

0.1 (10%) losses

1.0 (63%)losses

P

1980

0 exports

0.1 (10%) losses

0.4

0.2

0

0.2

0.5

0.5

0.9

0.2

0.5

0

Animal production

Food processing

Households

Crop production (soil)

Accumulation in soil 3.4 (44%)

Imports

Exports/losses

0.6

1.1

0

0.3

1.0

1.7

1.5

0 0.2

0

2.6 (33%)

5.2 (67%)

7.8 (100%)

1.4 (18%) exports

0.1 exports

0.5exports

2.1 (70%) losses

0.8 exports

1.3

0.3 (10%) losses

0.4 (11%) losses

3.0 (38%) losses

P

2005

0 exports

0.2 (9%) losses

• Total P input was 5 times larger in 2005 than in 1980;

• P cost of food production was 4 kg/kg in1980 and 13

kg/kg in 2005. (Ma et al., 2012)

PUE in the food chain of Chian

0

20

40

60

80

100

1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010

PUEc PUEa PUEf

Note: PUE= (O Main product / I Total)*100 ， Phosphorus use efficiency.PUEc, PUEa and PUEf are the PUE in crop production, animal production and food chain.

(Ma et al., Unpublished data, Smit et al., 2010 and Suh et al., 2011 )

USA and NL

PUEc = ~ 60%

PUEa = ~ 35%

PUEf = ~ 20%

P flux increased dramatically in the food chain of China

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

1950 1955 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010

Household

Food processing

Animal production

Cropland production

Year

P fl

ow （

1000

0 to

n）

(Ma et al., Unpublished data)

P cycling rate decreased in the food chain of China

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

1950

1952

1954

1956

1958

1960

1962

1964

1966

1968

1970

1972

1974

1976

1978

1980

1982

1984

1986

1988

1990

1992

1994

1996

1998

2000

2002

2004

2006

2008

2010

Recycled P New P

(Ma et al., Unpublished data)

15% 0%

47%

38%

1950

Crop production

Animal production

Food processing

Household

19%

7%

44%

30%

1980

13%

66%

9%

12%

2010

P losses in food chain in China

Percentage of P losses from sub-systems

P lo

sses

(10

4 to

n)

050

100150200250300350

1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010

HouseholdFood processingAnimal productionCrop production

Year(Ma et al., Unpublished data)

Options of sustainable P use in the food chain

P c

ost i

n th

e fo

od c

hain

(kg

/kg)

1980 2005 2030 Year

1. Improving PUE in crop production

2. Improving PUE in animal production

3. Recycling wastes from the whole chain

4. Lowering human consumption of animal products

Ma et al., EST 2013

(Chen et al., PNAS, 2011)

----Increase yield and PUE by 30-50%

Double High Technology:from technology to farmers’ practices

Field school Training

0

10

20

30

40

Traditional Grassland-based Collective Industrial Average

Ph

osp

ho

rus

use

eff

icie

ncy

%

Animal Herd System

Phosphorus use efficiency in dairy production in China

Animal: Milking dairy; Herd, including milking dairy, calves and heifers; System, crop-dairy production chain

Improving PUE in animal production

Bai et al., JEQ 2013PUE at herd level is 25-35% in EU and USA.

911

AppliedNew

792 227

Crop

1511

Feed

394

Pig gain

79

Carcass Pork

43 38

Consumed

119

329 558

Manure loss Manureexport

32

Slaughterwaste

53 631

Field loss P not taken

22

Processing waste

5

Food waste

14

283

987

By-product + Import

P footprint of China’s pig production in 2010

Bai et al., EST 2014

Recycling wastes from the whole chain

0

5

10

15

20

25

301

96

11

96

31

96

51

96

71

96

91

97

11

97

31

97

51

97

71

97

91

98

11

98

31

98

51

98

71

98

91

99

11

99

31

99

51

99

71

99

92

00

12

00

32

00

52

00

7

animal food

plant food

Year

Fo

od

pro

tein

su

pp

ly q

ua

ntit

y(k

g/c

ap

ita/y

ea

r)

Lowering human consumption of animal products

The Chinese food dietary guidelines

(Ma et al., JEQ 2013)

P losses from crop production and animal production

(Ma L. et al., STOTEN 2012)

Regional variations in P management

Summary

• Food P cost increased dramatically in the past several decades in China, following with low PUE and high P losses.

• Optimizing diets and implementation of integrated nutrient management would decrease P losses, and would greatly increase PUE in the whole food chain.

Atmosphere N2, NH3, N2O

Exports and losses

Surface watersGroundwater

Erosion and runoff

Leaching

N

Crop production（soil accumulation）

P

Animal productionimports

Food processing

Humanconsumption

• A food chain approach is really needed to improve sustainable P management in the food systems.

Some main publications• Ma L., Wang F. H., Zhang W. F., Ma, W. Q., Velthof G.L., Qin W., Oenema O., Zhang F.S.,

Environmental assessment of nutrient management options for the food chain of China. Environmental Science & Technology, 2013, 47 (13), 7260-7268.

• Ma L., Zhang W. F., Ma W.Q., Velthof G.L., Oenema O., Zhang F.S., An analysis of developments and challenges in nutrient management in China. Journal of Environmental Quality, 2013, 42 (4): 951-961. 　　

• Bai Z.H., Ma L., Oenema O., Chen Q., Zhang F.S., Nitrogen and phosphorus use efficiencies in dairy production in China. Journal of Environmental Quality, 2013, 42 (4): 990-1001.

• Hou Y., Ma L., Gao Z. L., Wang F. H., Sims J. T., Ma W. Q., Zhang F. S., Nitrogen and phosphorus flows and losses in the food chain in China, 1980-2010. Journal of Environmental Quality 2013, 42 (4): 962-971.

• Ma, L. G. L. Velthof, F. H. Wang, Z. Liu, Y. Zhang, J. Wei, J. P. Lesschen, W. Q. Ma, O. Oenema, F. S. Zhang et al.(2012) Nitrogen and phosphorus use efficiencies and losses in the food chain in China at regional scales in 1980 and 2005. Science of the Total Environment 2012, 434: 51-61.

• W.Q Ma, Ma L., Li J. H. et al., Phosphorus flows and use efficiencies in production and consumption of wheat, rice, and maize in China, Chemosphere, 2011, 84(6): 814-821.

• F. Wang, J.T. Sims, Ma L., W. Ma, Z. Dou, and F. Zhang, The Phosphorus Footprint of China’s Food Chain: Implications for Food Security, Natural Resource Management, and Environmental Quality, JEQ, 2011, 40(4): 1081-1089.

• Ma L., W.Q. Ma, G.L. Velthof et al,. Modeling Nutrient Flows in the Food Chain of China, Journal of Environmental Quality, 2010, 39(4): 1279-1289.

• Bai Z.H., Ma L., Qin W., Oenema O., Chen Q., Zhang F.S., Changes in Pig Production in China and Their Effects on Nitrogen and Phosphorus Use and Losses. Environmental Science & Technology, 2014 (Minor revision)

Our food pyramid in the future

Thanks for your attention!

5th Phosphorus in Soils and Plants Symposium, 29th September, Montpellier, France