2023 China Fertilizer Registration Analysis

Fertilizer registration is an important way of securing the safety and effectiveness of the production and use of fertilizers, while being helpful to the quality assurance of fertilizers, promoting high-quality fertilizers, regulating fertilizer market operations, safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of farmers, and protecting the agricultural ecological environment. Fertilizer registration is like the citizens’ ID card, proving the authenticity and legality of fertilizers and demonstrating the lawful production run of fertilizer manufacturers.

1. 2023 China Chemical Fertilizer Registrations

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As shown in Figure 1, there have been some 5,838 valid registrations of chemical fertilizers in the last five years. It also shows a stable registration trend for chemical fertilizers in the last 2 years.

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As shown in figures 2 and 3, in 2023, a total of 772 chemical fertilizer product registrations were granted to 453 registrants both at home and abroad in China. These registrations include directly-approved products, which are 271 water-soluble fertilizers containing amino acids, 229 water-soluble fertilizers containing humic acids, 38 non water-soluble secondary element fertilizers, 17 water-soluble fertilizers containing silicon, and one agricultural calcium ammonium nitrate, as well as review-approved products which are 196 organic water-soluble fertilizers, 13 soil conditioners, one agroforestry water retaining agent, five slow-release fertilizers and one fertilizer synergist.

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As shown in figures 4 and 5, the types of registrations of China’s chemical fertilizers in 2023 include 199 water-soluble amino acid products, 70 powder products and two granule products; 129 humic acid water-soluble products, 84 powder products and 16 granule products; two non-water-soluble secondary element aqueous products, six powder products and 30 granule products; 17 silicon water-soluble aqueous products; 169 organic water-soluble aqueous products, 23 powder products and four granule products; seven powder soil conditioners and six granule soil conditioners; one agroforestry water retaining aqueous product; five slow-release granule products; one aqueous solution fertilizer synergist; and one agricultural calcium ammonium nitrate. 

Chemical fertilizer registrations include 190 powder registrations accounting for some 24.6%, 65 granule registrations accounting for approximately 8.4%, and 517 aqueous registrations accounting for around 67%. Chemical fertilizer registrations in 2023 revealed a higher proportion of amino acid water-soluble fertilizers and humic acid water-soluble fertilizers in the directly approved product category, while the proportion of organic water-soluble fertilizer registrations appeared high in the review-approved product category. 

In recent years, the demand and market volume of water-soluble fertilizers in China have been growing constantly. A water-soluble fertilizer is a multi-component composite fertilizer that can be completely dissolved in water, offering the advantages of high efficiency, environment friendliness and high technology, being widely applied to various field crops and commercial crops. Compared with conventional fertilizers, water-soluble fertilizers are obviously superior, offering advantages such as the low dosage, convenient use, low cost, fast absorption, and high nutrient utilization. Over the past years, organic water-soluble fertilizers have been favored by many farmers. They dissolve quickly in water and save water, fertilizer and labor. Organic water-soluble fertilizers contain various organic components, such as amino acids, humic acid, polyglutamic acid and seaweed extract. Compared with single amino acid water-soluble fertilizers and humic acid water-soluble fertilizers, organic water-soluble fertilizers offer more complete nutrients, better efficacy, less dosages, higher activity, and more rapid effect. Therefore, the organic water-soluble fertilizer market has very promising future prospects. 

2. 2023 China Microbial Fertilizer Registrations

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As shown in Figure 6, there were some 6,777 valid microbial fertilizer registrations in China in the last five years. The chart shows that the registration trend of microbial fertilizers in the last two years has been relatively stable, without significant changes.

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As shown in figures 7 and 8, in 2023, a total of 1,187 microbial fertilizer registrations were granted to 589 registrants both at home and abroad in China. These registrations include directly approved products, which are 392 bioorganic fertilizers, 524 microbial inoculants, 188 composite microbial fertilizers, 27 organic-matter decomposing agents, 16 rhizobial inoculants, one photosynthetic bacterial inoculant and four endomycorrhizal agents, as well as review-approved products that are 18 soil bioremediation agents, 15 microbial concentrates and two microbial agents (microalgae).

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As shown in figures 9 and 10, microbial fertilizer registration types in 2023 include 195 bioorganic powder products and 197 granule products; 59 compound microbial powder products, 94 granule products and 35 liquid products; 189 microbial inoculant powder products, 125 granule products and 210 liquid products; 15 organic-matter decomposing products, two granule products and 10 liquid products; 16 liquid rhizobial inoculants; three powder endomycorrhizal inoculants and one granule product; one liquid photosynthetic bacterial inoculant; nine powder soil bioremediation products, eight granule products and one liquid product; 14 powder microbial concentrate products and one liquid product; two liquid microbial products (microalgae). Microbial fertilizer registrations include 484 powder registrations accounting for some 40.8%, 427 granule registrations accounting for approximately 36% and 276 aqueous registrations accounting for around 23.3%.

Microbial fertilizer registrations in 2023 reveal a higher proportion of bioorganic fertilizers and microbial inoculant registrations in the directly approved product category, while the proportion of soil bioremediation agent registrations appeared relatively high in the review-approved product category. While conventional microbial fertilizers are primarily applied to crops, more and more microbial fertilizers are currently being applied to environmental protection and ecological remediation.

In recent years, the Chinese government is promoting the supply side reform of agriculture and is encouraging agricultural producers to use novel fertilizers, such as microbial fertilizers, to reduce the use of chemical fertilizers. In the meantime, the Chinese government has strengthened its supervision of agricultural product quality and safety. All these measures have created a good business environment and opportunity for the development of the microbial fertilizer market. 

Meanwhile, with the continuous improvement of microbial fertilizer production technology, production cost has gradually decreased, product quality has improved, and profitability is increasing daily. Microbial fertilizers can better regulate the soil ecology and promote crop growth, therefore, better improving crop yield and quality than conventional fertilizers. As a result, with increasing demand for microbial fertilizers in the future, the microbial fertilizer industry is believed to be developing better and better.