A precision compost strategy aligning composts and application methods with target crops and growth environments can increase global food production

ABSTRACT Compost represents an important input for sustainable agriculture, but the use of diverse compost types causes uncertain outcomes. Here we performed a global meta-analysis with over

2,000 observations to determine whether a precision compost strategy (PCS) that aligns suitable composts and application methods with target crops and growth environments can advance

sustainable food production. Eleven key predictors of compost (carbon-to-nutrient ratios, pH and salt content electric conductivity), management (nitrogen N supply) and biophysical settings

(crop type, soil texture, soil organic carbon, pH, temperature and rainfall) determined 80% of the effect on crop yield, soil organic carbon and nitrous oxide emissions. The benefits of a

PCS are more pronounced in drier and warmer climates and soils with acidic pH and sandy or clay texture, achieving up to 40% higher crop yield than conventional practices. Using a

data-driven approach, we estimate that a global PCS can increase the production of major cereal crops by 96.3 Tg annually, which is 4% of current production. A global PCS has the

technological potential to restore 19.5 Pg carbon in cropland topsoil (0–20 cm), equivalent to 26.5% of current topsoil soil organic carbon stocks. Together, this points to a central role of

PCS in current and emerging agriculture. Access through your institution Buy or subscribe This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution ACCESS OPTIONS Access

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Contact customer support SIMILAR CONTENT BEING VIEWED BY OTHERS ORGANIC CROPPING SYSTEMS BALANCE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS AND AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION Article Open access 26 October 2024 AN

AGROECOLOGICAL STRUCTURE MODEL OF COMPOST—SOIL—PLANT INTERACTIONS FOR SUSTAINABLE ORGANIC FARMING Article Open access 31 March 2023 GLOBAL CROP PRODUCTION INCREASE BY SOIL ORGANIC CARBON

Article 30 October 2023 DATA AVAILABILITY The global compost effects observation dataset compiled for this study is available in Supplementary Data 1. The global input gridded datasets of

climate, soils and fertilization are publicly available and presented in Supplementary Table 11. Source data are provided with this paper. All other data that support the findings of this

study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request. CODE AVAILABILITY All codes developed for the BRT and RF analyses and to generate results are available from the

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https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=gbm (2019). Download references ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This work was financially supported by National Key Technologies R&D Program of China (grant

2016YFD0201303), Green and High-efficiency Fertilizer Innovation Program, Academy of Green Intelligent Compound Fertilizer, CNSIG Anhui Hongsifang Fertilizer Co., Ltd. and Chaohu Lake

Non-point Source Pollution Key Technology Research, Construction of agricultural carbon neutrality account in Quzhou City, Zhejiang Province, Agricultural Technology Experiment Demonstration

and Service Support Program in 2021, Graduate International Training Program of China Agricultural University, and the ‘Fight Food Waste Cooperative Research Centre’ under funding received

from Australian Government’s Cooperative Research Centre Program. AUTHOR INFORMATION Author notes * These authors contributed equally: Shuaixiang Zhao, Susanne Schmidt. AUTHORS AND

AFFILIATIONS * College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, National Academy of Agriculture Green Development, Key Laboratory of Plant–Soil Interactions, Ministry of Education, China

Agricultural University, Beijing, China Shuaixiang Zhao, Yong Hou, Jing Tian, Weifeng Zhang & Fusuo Zhang * School of Agriculture and Food Sciences, The University of Queensland,

Brisbane, Queensland, Australia Susanne Schmidt * College of Resources and Environmental Science, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, China Hongjian Gao * Sanya Nanfan Research Institute

of Hainan University, Hainan University, Sanya, China Tingyu Li * College of Resources and Environment, and Interdisciplinary Research Center for Agriculture Green Development in Yangtze

River Basin, Southwest University, Chongqing, China Xinping Chen * School of Natural Sciences, Bangor University, Bangor, UK Dave Chadwick * Center for Animal Health and Productivity, School

of Veterinary Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Kennett Square, PA, USA Zhengxia Dou Authors * Shuaixiang Zhao View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed 

Google Scholar * Susanne Schmidt View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Hongjian Gao View author publications You can also search for this

author inPubMed Google Scholar * Tingyu Li View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Xinping Chen View author publications You can also search

for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Yong Hou View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Dave Chadwick View author publications You can also

search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Jing Tian View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Zhengxia Dou View author publications You

can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Weifeng Zhang View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Fusuo Zhang View author

publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar CONTRIBUTIONS W.Z. conceived the research and established the methodology. W.Z., S.Z. and S.S proposed the PCS

concept. S.Z. collected and analysed the data. W.Z., S.Z. and S.S. designed figures and tables. W.Z., S.Z. and S.S. wrote the manuscript with edits from H.G., T.L., X.C., Y.H., D.C., J.T.,

Z.D. and F.Z. CORRESPONDING AUTHOR Correspondence to Weifeng Zhang. ETHICS DECLARATIONS COMPETING INTERESTS The authors declare no competing interests. PEER REVIEW PEER REVIEW INFORMATION

_Nature Food_ thanks Marcel van der Heijden, Rebecca Ryals, Shu Kee Lam and Zengqiang Zhang for their contribution to the peer review of this work. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION PUBLISHER’S NOTE

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION Supplementary Text

1–4, Figs. 1–23, Tables 1–16, references and meta-analysis reference list. REPORTING SUMMARY SUPPLEMENTARY DATA 1 The global compost effects observations dataset. SOURCE DATA SOURCE DATA

FIG. 1 Statistical source data for Fig. 1. SOURCE DATA FIG. 2 Statistical source data for Fig. 2. SOURCE DATA FIG. 3 Statistical source data for Fig. 3. SOURCE DATA FIG. 4 Statistical source

data for Fig. 4. SOURCE DATA FIG. 6 Statistical source data for Fig. 6. RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS Springer Nature or its licensor holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing

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methods with target crops and growth environments can increase global food production. _Nat Food_ 3, 741–752 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-022-00584-x Download citation * Received:

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