Assessment of farmers' water and fertilizer practices and perceptions in the North China Plain

Irrigation and fertilization are vital to increasing crop yield, but their application often exceeds crop requirements. Excessive fertilization under inefficient irrigation depletes the already scarce water resources while contributing to water pollution. To overcome these problems, the introduction of fertigation in combination with modern irrigation technologies has been promoted in the North China Plain (NCP), but farmers have been reluctant to adopt such technologies. To better understand the current situation and farmers' perceptions, we performed a case study in the People's Victory Canal Irrigation District (PVCID) of NCP. A field survey was carried out using a participatory approach, and field monitoring was conducted on a representative farm. We found that farmers are generally satisfied with their irrigation and fertilization practices, although they result in low application efficiency and distribution uniformity. In principle, the lack of knowledge about how to implement fertigation technology, the small-scale farming conditions, and the high cost of developing advanced fertigation systems are the main obstacles for fertigation adoption. We further conclude that (i) to improve the on-farm performance in terms of efficiency and uniformity of irrigation and fertilization, evidence-based guidelines are required to help farmers to implement; (ii) for effective adoption of new technologies, consideration of farmers' situation and perspectives is critical; and (iii) surface fertigation might be a good start for fertigation promotion.

Automated summary

Irrigation and fertilization are crucial for increasing crop yield, but their excessive use leads to depletion of water resources and water pollution. The introduction of fertigation technology combined with modern irrigation has been promoted in the North China Plain, but farmers are reluctant to adopt it. Farmers are generally satisfied with their current irrigation and fertilization practices, despite low application efficiency and distribution uniformity. Lack of knowledge, small-scale farming conditions, and high costs are the main obstacles for fertigation adoption.