Securing sufficient, sustainable and resilient food production with judiciously using mineral fertilizers, while protecting the eco-environment is essential for agricultural sustainable development worldwide. However, the existing agricultural scientific paradigm fails to align with practical production realities, while confronting dual contradictions: reconciling higher grain yields with lower environmental impacts and balancing agricultural economic growth with environmental conservation imperatives. This paper proposes the next-generation “12345” agricultural research paradigm, rooting research in agricultural development, linking knowledge and action across multistakeholders via cross-discipline systematic research. Green technology for increasing grain crop production and efficiency, as a typical example, is used to implement this new scientific paradigm. The components of this paradigm are giving as comprising three key elements, (1) high-yield population construction, (2) efficient rhizosphere regulation technology and (3) healthy soil cultivation. Next the paper examines green technology versus common farmer practice for thousands of fields across the main agricultural production regions in China, achieving substantially increased crop yields and reduced mineral nitrogen fertilizer inputs, thereby enhanced nitrogen use efficiency and reduced environmental footprints. Green technology is offered as being an effective agricultural scientific paradigm to ensure food and environmental security, providing a new example for worldwide food security in the future.

Agriculture is undergoing a pivotal transformation, shifting from a singular focus on food security to interdisciplinary research that encompasses food security, environmental protection and sustainable use of resources. The growing global population and climate change exert the urgency to adopt sustainable practices that balance crop productivity and environmental stewardship. The merit of the approach of past agricultural research, typically centered on single processes and limited to specific disciplines and goals, is now a subject to debate. There is need for a multi-objective approach, an enhancement of the whole industry chain enhancement (involves service from the initial raw material stage to the final consumer) and a holistic approach for sustainable agricultural development. To address these challenges, this article presents an innovative agricultural system research approach. This approach integrates interdisciplinary research and advocates for a combined top-down and bottom-up strategy. The concept of innovative agriculture refers to redesigning systems through technological integration for large-scale application, ultimately aiming to enhance overall crop production, environmental sustainability and efficiency. The top-down approach sets yield targets and environmental thresholds at various scales, aligning with national objectives for food security, resource use efficiency and ecological sustainability. This method determines the necessary technical systems and integration methods. In contrast, the bottom-up approach based on Science and Technology Backyard, analyzes the factors that constrain high crop yields and efficiency, and develops systematic methods to achieve high yield and high efficiency. The integrated agricultural research approach can simultaneously address food security challenges, enhances resource use efficiency, and protect the environmental sustainability. This is essential for advancing sustainable agricultural practices in the face of increasing global demands and environmental concerns.

The implementation of green technologies has facilitated the sustainable development of China’s agriculture. However, the impact of green technologies in China’s major crops production, their mechanisms of action and their future potential have not been systematically investigated. This study used national statistics data to summarize the impact of technological innovation on production and efficiency of major grain crops in China, and to identify which technologies have made the most important contributions. National statistics data showed changes in grain production (58% increase), total planting area (8.6% increase) and structure, nutrient input (0.83 Mt decrease) and reactive nitrogen losses, and optimized planting and fertilizer structure in 2022 compared to 2000. Of these, the proposal of integrated soil-crop system management significantly decreased reactive nitrogen losses and greenhouse gas emissions by 30% and 11%, respectively. Root zone nutrient regulation techniques, such as in-season nitrogen management, increased yields by 8% and decreased nitrogen rate by 25%. Rhizosphere nutrient regulation technology increased yield by 20.2% and decreased nitrogen rate by 20%–30%. According to predictions, integrated soil-crop system management will demonstrate significant advantages in both unit area yield and total yield by the year 2050. The adoption of integrated soil-crop system management is expected to increase the total production of rice, wheat and maize by 45.8, 115 and 360 Mt, respectively. Currently, China’s agriculture is confronted by significant challenges, including rising food demand, excessive inorganic nutrient inputs, and low utilization rates of organic resources. Three key recommendations arise from this study: the implementation of precise management for organic manure; the promotion of enhanced-efficiency fertilizers; and the adoption of new technologies including integrated soil-crop system management combined with rhizosphere nutrient regulation and intelligent nutrient management. These measures will drive the development of green, high-yield and efficient agriculture.

Due to continuous increases in the global population and the limited availability of arable land resources, issues related to food security have attracted increasing attention. Maize is the most productive and most widely planted food crop in China and has the highest yield potential among different crops. Increasing the yield of maize per unit area has become one of the key goals in agriculture in China. This study summarized the key limiting factors, such as solar radiation, temperature, water, soil resources and extreme weather events that currently limit the yield and resource use efficiency of maize production, as well as the main problems existing in the process of maize production, such as unsuitable cultivar selection, low planting density and inappropriate fertilizer application. Then the maize population was optimized on the basis of quantitative design principles. By this approach, crop planting density was matched with solar radiation levels, the population structure was matched with appropriate cultivars, and the plow layer-root system-canopy functions were matched with grain yield to ensure increases in grain yield and resource use efficiency in maize production. These factors can significantly improve maize production and related economic benefits, reduce production costs and environmental burdens, and provide a scientific basis and technical support for realizing sustainable agricultural development in China.

Rice is the staple food of nearly half the global population, and its production must steadily increase to meet the growing demand driven by an increasing global population. While an increase in rice production heavily relies on substantial water and fertilizer inputs, which not only decreases water and fertilizer use efficiencies, but also pose significant environmental risks. Therefore, it is an urgent need to enhance yield and resource use efficiency through the development and adoption of innovative, sustainable and environmentally-friendly technologies. This paper reviews progress in green rice production over recent decades based mainly on such research. Firstly, it explores physiological strategies aimed at enhancing yield and improving resource use efficiency in rice production. Secondly, it proposes three key agronomic and physiological strategies to achieve green rice production: optimizing the grain-leaf ratio to balance source-sink dynamics, enhancing the sugar-spikelet ratio to improve sink strength and facilitate non-structural carbohydrates remobilization during grain filling, and increasing ratio of productive tillers to optimize canopy structure. Based on these strategies, a quantitative evaluation of rice population characteristics was undertaken to achieve high yield and resource use efficiency. Thirdly, green technologies for rice production is introduced, including alternate wetting-drying irrigation, three-criteria nitrogen application (based on soil, leaf color and cultivar), and water-nitrogen coupling regulation. Finally, the implication of these technologies is summarized for the major rice-growing areas in China, including Anhui, Heilongjiang, Hubei, Jiangsu, Jilin and Sichuan, and Shanghai. The future prospects for sustainable rice production is then discussed, emphasizing the potential of green technologies to meet the growing demand for rice in an environmentally sustainable way.

The development of green technologies for improving winter wheat yield and nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) is crucial for ensuring national food security and reducing carbon footprint. This study outlines China wheat yield progress and establishes a three-stage theory for this. The key constraints from a soil-crop system perspective were identified: population-individual competition, dry matter accumulation and distribution, and soil quality degradation. To address these constraints, an optimized soil-crop system is proposed. (1) Adopting rational dense planting using optimal densities of 330–375 plants m⁻² for large-spike cultivars and 225–270 plants m⁻² for medium-spike cultivars to establish robust populations. (2) Enhancing soil quality and reducing carbon footprint by the adoption of straw return combined with a strategy of deep plowing and rotary tillage to improve soil fertility quality, reducing carbon footprint by 1.87 Mg CO₂ eqv ha⁻¹. (3) Using wide-space drill sowing of 6–8 cm sowing belts to minimize interplant competition, coupled with moderate density to stimulate deep-root nitrogen uptake. (4) Optimizing the canopy optimization by delayed sowing (mid-October to early-November) combined with density adjustment enhances light interception efficiency. This integrated soil-crop system management demonstrates long-term effectiveness, increasing grain yield, NUE and reducing carbon footprint. These findings provide practical solutions for green and efficient production of winter wheat.

Maize is a critical grain crop in China, having the largest planting area and highest total yield of all grain crops. In the four-primary maize-producing regions of China (Northeast, North China Plain, Northwest and Southwest), persistent regional production challenges and yield-limiting factors have impeded the realization of efficient maize production. This paper reviews sustainable, yield-enhancing and efficiency-improving practices for maize production in China. By addressing the regional constraints in major maize-producing areas and incorporating strategies, such as high-yield population construction, the establishment of appropriate tillage layers and soil fertility enhancement through precise matching technologies, this study integrates regionalized integrated fertilizer application and a government-enterprise-university-research-application collaborative model, focusing on the Science and Technology Backyards. The goal is to facilitate sustainable, efficient, scaled and modernized development across diverse maize-growing regions in China. This approach is expected to provide a foundation for sustainable and efficient maize production in China.

In the face of rising food demand and declining wheat acreage, improving wheat yield and resource use efficiency will be key to sustainable wheat production. To address the challenge, this study proposed a framework for wheat green production, quantified the benefits of key technologies and technology models based on the framework in wheat yield and nitrogen use efficiency (NUE), and developed a new model for the promotion of technology. The framework included soil, root layer and canopy systems, where the adoption of single technologies based on the framework could increase wheat yield and NUE by improving soil fertility, managing soil nutrient supply and building high-yielding systems. Through combining specific single technologies, a year-round plastic film mulching model in dryland cropping, and an efficient nutrient and water management technique model for irrigated cropping were established, providing benefits in wheat yield and NUE. A multi-subject joint innovation technology model was also developed to serve as a bridge to transform agricultural technology into agricultural productivity. In the future, a sustainable increase in wheat production in China will require innovation in key technologies and technology models, the development of new technology promotion models, and the combined efforts of the whole community.

China’s high rice yield is primarily achieved through intensive fertilizer application and substantial water resource consumption, which has resulted in significant environmental risks. There is an urgent need to develop innovative green technologies that simultaneously ensure high yield and production efficiency to achievesustainable rice production. This paper systematically analyzes both nationwide challenges and region-specific constraints affecting rice production. The proposed solutions focus on three key innovations: constructing high-yield populations, coupling aboveground and belowground, and improving soil fertility. Implementation of these green high-yield and high-efficiency technologies demonstrates potential to maintain or increase yields while achieving three critical improvements: enhanced nitrogen use efficiency, reduced irrigation water consumption and decreased greenhouse gas emissions. To facilitate large-scale adoption, priority should be given to developing rice-related products, integrating rice-upland rotating system and establishing localized implementation models based on these technological innovations.

Pursuing greater crop yields with fewer inputs is a grand challenge under a changing climate, particularly for smallholder farming. Integrated soil and crop management has been proven effective in increasing both crop yield and nutrient use efficiency on a large scale in China. However, there is a lack of multi-objective and integrated technologies aimed at improving soil quality, crop yield, and nutrient and water resource efficiency, which are currently the top priorities of sustainable crop production. This paper proposes pathways for the sustainable production of 22.5 t·ha^–1 yield in a winter wheat and summer maize rotation on the North China Plain. The challenges and constraints of sustainable crop production were reviewed with a focus on extreme climate events, soil quality, resource use efficiency, and socioeconomic factors. There is now increasing attention given to addressing these issues through the selection of superior crop genotypes, precision management of nutrients and irrigation, improvement of soil quality and land management. This can lead to increased yields and reduced resource inputs and can also mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and increase carbon sequestration in soils. Strengthening sustainable crop production requires a deeper understanding of plant–soil-climate-management interactions and involves interdisciplinary research innovation and multistakeholder participation, which can help achieve agricultural sustainability.

Adequate dietary zinc intake remains a public health challenge in China. Also, there is a lack of information on the relationship between Zn intake and food consumption patterns across provinces and over time. In this study, data from the China Health and Nutrition Survey 2004–2011 (21,266 individuals) was used to explore associations between dietary Zn intake and sociodemographic factors. Zn intake per person declined from 11.1 mg·d⁻¹ in 2004 to 9.89 mg·d⁻¹ in 2011, with reduction in cereal consumption the greatest contributor to this. However, the reduction resulting from the lower cereal consumption was only partly compensated by an increase in consumption of Zn-rich foods. The percentage of the study population with inadequate Zn intake increased from 23% in 2004 to 37% in 2011. While Zn intake was positively associated with income levels in each survey year, the time trend for all income levels was a gradually reducing Zn intake. In all years, males had an average higher dietary Zn intake, whereas no significant difference was found between living areas. In conclusion, this study shows that dietary Zn inadequacy was high and has increased over the studied period. Remediation could be sought by shifting dietary patterns toward more Zn-dense food or by enhancing Zn concentration through biofortification.

Human activities are the main contributors to non-point source pollution. Understanding the relative contributions of various sources to pollutant discharge is essential for effective water quality management. This study aimed to quantify ammonia nitrogen (NH₃-N), total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) to the environment from crop and livestock production, and residential sewage in the Haixi Region of the Erhai Lake Basin, south-west China, using integrated data from farmer surveys, literature reviews and statistical data. The results revealed that the NH₃-N, TN, TP and COD discharges were 72.9, 264.1, 29.2, and 1453.3 t·yr⁻¹, respectively, in 2022 in Haixi Region. Shangguan township, as a high-intensity discharge area, accounted for 21%–44% of the total discharges of four pollutants. Maize, vegetables and beans crops were the largest contributors to water pollution in Haixi Region, which are responsible for 6.3, 94.1, and 5.5 t·yr⁻¹ of NH₃-N, TN, and TP, respectively. Dairy cattle and pig rearing were the main contributors in the livestock production. Compared to crop and livestock production, NH₃-N discharged from residential sewage were 186% higher, while the other three pollutants were 59%–71% lower. These findings support the refined management of agricultural activities in accordance with water quality protection policies of Erhai Lake Basin.

Intercropping has emerged as a pivotal strategy in modern ecological agriculture, significantly contributing to biodiversity enhancement, ecological system services and soil quality improvement. In light of global food security challenges and the scarcity of arable land, intercropping is anticipated to become increasingly important for enhancing farmland quality and ensuring food security in China. Current research primarily highlights the benefits of intercropping in improving farmland quality and crop productivity, with some attention also given to its role in promoting biodiversity and ecological system services. However, the mechanisms by which intercropping specifically enhances soil physical, chemical and biological properties to sustain long-term soil health and improve farmland quality require further investigation. This review examines the concept of sugarcane intercropping and its role in promoting soil health and enhancing ecological system services. It systematically synthesizes recent research findings on the effects of sugarcane intercropping on soil physical, chemical and biological properties in southern China. Additionally, this review outlines future research directions and priorities for developing intercropping systems that prioritize farmland quality improvement, aiming to provide insights into the broader value that intercropping in China’s strategies for farmland quality enhancement.

Crop production is strategic for food security and climate change mitigation, and can provide a temporary soil carbon sink. There is an ongoing debate about how to optimize crop production in China toward carbon-neutral agriculture. This paper summarizes major carbon budgets in staple crop production in China over recent decades, synthesize reported impacts of available and developing field management practices on greenhouse gas emissions reduction and carbon sink increase. According to recent studies, cropland-based GHG emissions (55% N₂O and 44% CH₄) increased at a rate of 4.3 Tg·yr^–1 CO₂-eq from 1990 to 2015 and peaked at 400 Tg CO₂-eq in 2015. Subsequently, there was a substantial decrease of 11.6 Tg·yr^–1 CO₂-eq between 2015 and 2021. A similar bell-shape trend has been observed in yield-scaled GHG emission intensity over the years for cereals excluding rice, as rice exhibited a steady decline in yield-scaled emission intensity since 1961. For soil C in Chinese cropland, topsoil C represents a huge C pool, containing 5.5 Pg of soil organic carbon (SOC) and 2.4 Pg of soil inorganic carbon (SIC). However, these densities are relatively low globally, indicating a high C sequestration potential. Soil C in cropland has been a weak sink of 5.3 Tg·yr^–1 C in China since the 1980s, resulting from the net effect of SOC sequestration (21.3 Tg·yr^–1 C) and SIC loss (–16 Tg·yr^–1 C), which only offsets 5.7% of simultaneous cropland GHG emissions. Hence, cropland remains consistent and significant GHG sources, even when considering soil C sequestration and excluding related industrial and energy sectors. Fortunately, many reliable management practices have positive effects on emission intensity of crop production, in terms of fertilizer application, irrigation and tillage. However, the path to achieving carbon neutrality in China’s cropland is still uncertain and requires further quantitative assessment. Nonetheless, this synthesis highlights that the huge potential, and strong scientific and technical support in low-carbon crop production, for modifying China’s food system.

Non-point source (NPS) pollution has been the major cause of water quality degradation. However, there are still shortcomings in the current monitoring methods for NPS pollution, such as small monitoring range, error of monitoring data, time-consuming and laborious monitoring process. Although the established method, field experiment plots, was used effectively in the first and second national pollution source census in China. However, when the results obtained by monitoring experimental plots are extrapolated to a field or larger scale, there are considerable uncertainties because of the characteristics of large spatial and temporal variation of farmland. To optimize the farmland surface runoff monitoring methods, an online monitoring system for continuous cropping based on a serial pipeline was developed, which takes diversion trench, online flowmeter and dynamic acquisition device as the main body. Compared with the current farmland monitoring methods, this system can realize more precise automatic monitoring of water quantity and quality, and lower costs. This innovative method will provide greater confidence in the actual monitoring of NPS pollution from farmland and wider practical application. This new method could prove particularly valuable for the next national pollution source census in China.

Stabilized fertilizers, enhanced with urease or nitrification inhibitors, have emerged as pivotal tools for China’s agricultural green transition, balancing crop productivity, resource efficiency, and environmental sustainability. Globally, Germany and other EU countries have pioneered inhibitor-integrated fertilizer policies, driving emission reductions. Despite China’s later start, breakthroughs in local production, diversified formulations (covering six major fertilizer categories) and standardized systems have positioned it as a global leader, with 90% of the raw material capacity and 3 Mt annual output (4% of the total fertilizer production). Meta-analysis of over 900 trials (2014–2018) demonstrates stabilized fertilizers increase yields by 9.2%, nitrogen use efficiency by 11.2% and lower N₂O emissions by 28.4% in staple crops. Field studies further reveal multifunctional benefits including 60% higher nitrogen efficiency, 60% emission cuts, 20%–50% fertilizer savings and enhanced climate resilience. To maximize impact, advancing technology innovation, refining application protocols and fostering cross-sector collaboration are critical. This paper provides strategic insights to accelerate China’s sustainable agriculture transition and global climate goals.