A must-have for farmers! The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs strengthens supervision of organic fertilizers and biological fertilizers!

In order to thoroughly implement the spirit of the No. 1 central document of the Central Committee of the CPC in 2026, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs recently issued the Implementation Opinions on the Implementation of the Opinions of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council on Anchoring the Modernization of Agriculture and Rural Areas and Firmly Promoting the Overall Revitalization of Rural Areas, which clearly stated that in 2026, it will standardize and optimize the registration and approval of fertilizers, and focus on strengthening the quality supervision of Organic Fertilizers, microbial fertilizers, etc. This policy orientation marks a deep transformation of the fertilizer industry from quantity growth to quality improvement.

In order to implement regulatory requirements, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs has conducted national fertilizer quality supervision and spot checks for several consecutive years, involving core categories such as organic fertilizers, compound fertilizers, and microbial fertilizers. Data from the past three years shows that the overall qualification rate of fertilizers has increased from 85.9% in 2023 to 91.8% in 2025, but the quality performance of the three core categories has shown a differentiated trend: the qualification rate of compound fertilizers will reach 98.3% in 2025, becoming the category with the highest qualification rate; The qualification rate of organic fertilizers has increased from 76.6% in 2023 to 88.9% in 2025, making it the category with the lowest qualification rate among the three types of fertilizers; Although the qualification rate of microbial fertilizers is better than that of organic fertilizers, the qualification rate has decreased from 95.6% in 2023 to 91% in 2025.

Although the overall qualification rate of fertilizers in China has improved in recent years, organic fertilizers and biological fertilizers are still high-risk areas for substandard quality nationwide.
Recently, in the 2026 provincial supervision and spot check list of unqualified products (first time) released by the Sichuan Provincial Administration for Market Regulation, 6 organic fertilizers and 8 biological fertilizers have different types of quality problems. The unqualified items mainly involve organic matter content, total nutrients, water quality fraction, packaging labeling, effective viable bacteria count, etc. In addition, one product failed the random inspection for two consecutive years, reflecting the long-term lack of quality control in some enterprises, and the problem is repetitive and typical.
The results of the 2025 fertilizer quality supervision spot check recently released by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of Shandong Province showed that out of 100 samples, the overall pass rate of fertilizers was 96%, and all 4 unqualified products were organic fertilizers. Among them, there was 1 case where the organic matter content did not meet the standard, 2 cases where the pH value did not meet the standard (including 1 case where the moisture content exceeded the standard), and 1 case where the fecal coliform count exceeded the standard.
The inspection results of fertilizer product quality supervision in the production field of Hainan Province in 2024 show that among the 15 batches of products inspected, 3 batches were unqualified, all of which were organic fertilizers, with a failure rate of 20%. The non-conforming items involved are: mass fraction of organic matter, mass fraction of moisture, and pH value.
The results of the quality supervision and spot check of fertilizer products conducted in Hunan Province from April to June 2024 showed that the qualified rate of organic fertilizers was 90.1%; The qualification rate of organic and inorganic compound fertilizers randomly checked was 87.5%. Upon inspection, it was found that there are prominent issues with the labeling and product quality of fertilizer products. In terms of labeling, there are mainly five types of non-standard behaviors: firstly, exaggerating product efficacy, such as claiming to "improve fertilizer utilization and prevent soil borne diseases"; The second is to mark the registered and approved label content of the product beyond the scope without authorization, such as labeling the packaging of organic-inorganic compound fertilizers with the words "containing humus ≥ 5"; Thirdly, the product labeling technical indicators are higher than the registered and approved technical indicators. For example, the fertilizer registration certificate requires a total nutrient content of ≥ 4% and organic matter content of ≥ 30%, but the enterprise labels it as a total nutrient content of ≥ 5%; Fourthly, the product name is not standardized, such as changing the registered name "organic fertilizer" to "ecological organic fertilizer" without authorization; Fifth, the old standards that have been abolished (such as NY525-2012) are still being used, and even mistakenly labeled as "NY525-2012/GB". In terms of product quality, it involves multiple indicators such as organic matter, nutrients, moisture, acidity and alkalinity, and heavy metals. Some products have been found to have unqualified total cadmium content.
With the increasing emphasis on soil health and crop quality in agricultural production, the market's attention to organic fertilizers continues to heat up, and the industry is entering a new stage of development with broad prospects, but at the same time, it also faces five prominent problems. Firstly, the quality of production enterprises varies greatly and their ability to control quality is weak. A large number of small and scattered enterprises lack professional technical strength and standardized production systems, and their production processes are extensive, resulting in frequent problems such as insufficient product maturity, nutrient false labeling, and excessive heavy metal content, and even "stubborn" enterprises that have failed sampling inspections for two consecutive years. Secondly, the sources of raw materials are complex and there is a lack of supervision. Organic fertilizers mainly use Agricultural Waste such as livestock and poultry manure, animal and plant residues as the main raw materials, with large fluctuations in composition and high pollution risks. If the front-end classification and harmless treatment are not in place, antibiotics, heavy metals, etc. are easily brought into the end products, threatening the safety of farmland. Thirdly, the detection system lags behind. The detection methods for key functional indicators such as organic matter content and effective viable bacterial count have not been unified in some regions, making the detection difficult. The fourth issue is the prominent problem of non-standard labeling. Some companies exaggerate product efficacy on packaging, label approved content beyond the scope, falsely label technical indicators, use non-standard product names, and incorrectly label abolished standard numbers, misleading consumers and disrupting market order. The fifth issue is that the regulatory mechanism is not yet sound, and the follow-up disposal and long-term mechanism need to be improved. The investigation and punishment of unqualified products by relevant departments mostly focuses on individual case rectification, lacking effective punishment and exit mechanisms for enterprises that repeatedly violate regulations; Some places have not timely included problematic enterprises in the key supervision list, resulting in insufficient sampling frequency and tracking efforts; The supervision and spot check mechanism has not yet fully covered key areas, key enterprises, and key products, and the results disclosure and coordinated law enforcement mechanism also need to be strengthened, resulting in the risk of "bad money driving out good money" still existing.
Suggestion: To transform organic fertilizers from a "high incidence area" of substandard quality to a "high-quality development area", the five major problems mentioned above must be fundamentally addressed. Firstly, strengthen the main responsibility of enterprises, improve the production technology and management level of small and scattered enterprises through policy guidance and technical support, and ensure stable and reliable product quality. Secondly, improve the mechanism for raw material supervision, strengthen the front-end classification and harmless treatment of agricultural waste, establish a strict raw material traceability system, and prevent harmful substances from entering the fertilizer production process. Thirdly, accelerate the standardization of testing methods for key indicators such as organic matter content and effective viable bacterial count, and promote the development of industry standardization and normalization. Fourthly, strict labeling management should be implemented, and punishment for behaviors such as exaggerating efficacy and falsely labeling technical indicators should be increased to maintain market order and consumer rights. Finally, establish a sound long-term regulatory mechanism, strengthen cross departmental collaboration, and build a closed-loop regulatory system from spot checks, notifications to rectification, to ensure timely and effective disposal of non-conforming products. Only through multi-party collaborative efforts can organic fertilizers truly become reliable inputs for ensuring soil health and improving crop quality, providing solid support for achieving green and high-quality agricultural development.