Changes in fertilizer type and use patterns for major food crops cultivation between 2019 and 2023 in South Korea

Korea is one of countries that have high application rate of organic fertilizer and is known to cause significant environments issues.The use of inorganic fertilizer has led to a nutrient supply that exceeds the nutrient requirements of crops, resulting in an excess of nutrients in agricultural soil.Hence, many agricultural policies have been legislated to reduce the fertilizer application rate since 1990s.This study aims to investigate fertilizer type and usage on food crops (rice, barley, bean, potato, sweet potato, corn) in 9 provinces in 2019 and 2023.The average of total fertilizer inputs (N-P 2 O 5 -K 2 O) showed a slight decrease in both inorganic and organic fertilizers in 2023 compared to 2019, while compost increased.In terms of N, the total fertilizer usage was highest for potato (37.0 kg 10a -1 ) in 2019 and for corn (37.7 kg 10a -1 ) in 2023.Moreover, the fertilizer usage for all crops exceeded the recommended levels.As a result, a primary concern is the excessive use of fertilizers, with a focus on compost.Because of the high nutrient content of compost, the application rate of compost should be controlled and monitored.Therefore, the proper training and monitoring are required to promote proper nutrient management of fertilizer in food crops cultivation.