NANJING -- Chinese researchers have successfully applied single-dose fertilization in mechanized rice planting to reduce nitrogen cost.

The current fertilization is realized by spreading fertilizers over the fields, causing a large amount of fertilizer loss and rice field pollution.

Researchers from the Nanjing Agricultural University adjusted the ratio of slow-release fertilizer and controlled-release fertilizer. Instead of fertilizing the traditional four to five times, now they only need to fertilize once, and the nutrient release from the fertilizers is synchronized with the peak period of rice fertilizer uptake.

Using the new fertilization method, the fertilizer bags are thrown into the soil during rice planting to provide all the nutrition during the total growth cycle of rice.

Provinces including Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui and Heilongjiang have applied the new fertilization method to grow rice. Compared with previous methods, the one-time fertilization can save 20 percent of nitrogen fertilizer for machine-planted rice.