Spatio-temporal characteristics of fertilizer utilization efficiency in China during 1999-2018: a biennial weight modified Russell model

The excessive application of fertilizer in China’s agricultural production increases the planting cost, whilst leading to the deterioration of ecological environment. It is therefore of great significance to evaluate China’s fertilizer utilization efficiency (FUE) for agricultural sustainability. However, in spite of its importance in China’s agriculture system, the relevant literature is still scarce. To fill this gap, this study examines the FUE and its spatio-temporal characteristics in China by employing a biennial weight modified Russell model. The main findings are as follows. First, the FUE of China and the three functional areas for grain production fluctuated downward during the sample period. The mean FUE in the main grain-selling areas (0.9856) was the highest, followed by the grain balance areas (0.7843), and then the main grain-producing areas (0.7499). Second, there were 15 provinces with a mean FUE above 0.9. Shanghai (0.9981), Tibet (0.9976), Hainan (0.9975), and Beijing (0.9958) were the top four provinces regarding mean FUEs. Anhui (0.4867) and Shanxi (0.4778) had the lowest mean FUEs. Third, the total difference within China was increased by 31.8% over the sample period. The intra-regional contribution, the net inter-regional contribution, and the inter-regional intensity of transvariation accounted for 29.5%, 43.4%, and 27.11% of the total difference.