In the workshop of Shandong Xinyangfeng Fertilizer Co., Ltd. in Heze, Shandong, machines roar and production is busy and orderly: fertilizer particles are flipped inside the coated drum, and the automated feeder accurately ingredients them. After spraying isolation agents and binders, the particles are wrapped with microbial agents and protective agents. After passing quality inspection and filling, bags of functional bio compound fertilizers are delivered to farmers from here. We produce compound fertilizers containing ARC microbial agents. This year, this new type of compound fertilizer is being widely promoted for the first time, and sales are expected to double compared to last year. ”Wu Liang, Director of Xinyangfeng Institute of New Fertilizer and Green Agriculture, said. The ARC biological microbial agent mentioned by Wu Liang is an original achievement invented by the team of Academician Li Peiwu from the Oil Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences after more than 20 years of continuous research and development. Among them, "A" represents the control of aflatoxin, "R" represents the induction of nitrogen fixation by rhizobia, and "C" represents the coupling and synchronization of the two. Why is the market favored for "defeating" aflatoxin ARC bio microbial compound fertilizer? Peanuts and soybeans are susceptible to contamination by aflatoxin. Since the 1960s, controlling aflatoxins has been a difficult problem. The international mainstream technology uses non toxin producing strains of Aspergillus flavus to be released into the field, hoping to "attack the bacteria with the bacteria" and suppress the strong toxin producing strains of Aspergillus flavus in the soil. However, this method does not have ideal practical effects in the field, and there is even a risk of causing rampant production of Aspergillus flavus. Can we control the microbial community through targeted regulation without introducing exogenous Aspergillus flavus, suppress aflatoxin producing bacteria in soil, and even "defeat" aflatoxins, while maintaining soil health? In order to find a method that adapts to China's national conditions to prevent and control aflatoxins, Li Peiwu's team traveled to important peanut producing areas in China, collecting more than 4700 soil samples. Based on different microbial populations and elemental compositions, thousands of combinations were formulated and screened and verified in the laboratory one by one. However, the performance of the experimental samples in the field was not ideal. On the other hand, leguminous crops have the ability of nodulation and nitrogen fixation, but in field production, soybeans and peanuts have few nodules and low nitrogen fixation efficiency. How to improve the nitrogen fixation efficiency of nodules and achieve nitrogen fixation for weight loss and yield increase is also a difficult problem that troubles agricultural scientists. Is there a relationship between improving the nitrogen fixation efficiency of leguminous plants and inhibiting aflatoxins? Based on years of exploration, the team led by Li Peiwu started from the perspective of soil source control of Aspergillus flavus and took a different approach. They found that Aspergillus flavus was negatively correlated with plant probiotics such as rhizobia and Bacillus subtilis. Based on this discovery, they invented the ARC microbial agent. "ARC biological coupling technology can be described as" killing two birds with one stone ", which not only breaks through the traditional cognition of nitrogen fixation of legumes, but also breaks the traditional technical restrictions of applying rhizobia, thus opening up a new way for soybean and peanut to induce nitrogen fixation, improve quality and increase yield, and help improve yield in a large area. ”Li Peiwu said. How effective is ARC bio microbial agent in the field? The team carried out field test demonstration verification at more than 500 demonstration sites in the main production area. The results showed that the number of nodules and nitrogenase activity of soybeans and peanuts increased by 3.7 times and 4.8 times respectively, and the yield increased by 15% and 19% respectively after using ARC biological coupling technology. At the same time, the field control effect of Aspergillus flavus toxin producing bacteria reached more than 63%. When promoting the developed microbial agents on a large scale in the field to enhance the effectiveness of compound fertilizers by carrying bacteria with fertilizers, new challenges were encountered. Originally, although the amount of biological agents used was small, it was inconvenient and farmers were not accustomed to it. Not to mention increasing labor and time costs, uneven application could also affect the effectiveness. What should I do? If ARC microbial agents can be combined with compound fertilizers to carry bacteria, it can not only improve the effectiveness of compound fertilizers, but also save time and effort for farmers, and have great potential for market promotion. The idea of Li Peiwu's team coincides with Xinyangfeng's plan to develop high-quality specialized fertilizers for economic crops. At first, Wu Liang didn't have a clear idea: how to adapt to the high salt content of fertilizers and how to ensure the activity of microbial agents. There was no successful precedent in the global industry before. Can fertilizer loaded bacteria be successful? The support of major scientific and technological projects in Hubei Province has increased Wu Liang's confidence. In 2023, relevant departments in Hubei Province will take the lead in bridging the gap, and Li Peiwu's team will cooperate with Xinyangfeng to jointly promote the industrialization of "ARC bio microbial compound fertilizer quality improvement, nitrogen fixation, green yield increase technology". In response to the pain point of difficulty in stably adding ARC microbial agents to compound fertilizers, the research team of Xinyangfeng conducted hundreds of experiments on key factors affecting the activity of microbial agents, including isolation agents, stabilizers, and activators, and ultimately optimized and determined the microbial preservative with the lowest cost and the best effect. We have solved the industry problems of incompatibility, easy deactivation, and short fertilizer efficacy period between compound fertilizers and microorganisms, ensuring that the survival rate of microbial agents is over 90%. We have also developed a highly enriched ARC biological microbial agent peanut specific fertilizer and soybean specific fertilizer, achieving the effect of '1+1gt; 2' combination of fertilizer and bacteria. ”Wu Liang said. Persuading farmers to use ARC bio microbial compound fertilizer cannot only talk about the advantages of technical indicators, but must be tested in field production through large-scale demonstrations, so that farmers can see tangible results. To this end, Xinyangfeng and Li Peiwu's team went into the fields and conducted more than 30 ARC bio microbial compound fertilizer experiments in the main peanut and soybean producing areas of China for two consecutive years. Experimental results have shown that using peanut specific fertilizers containing ARC microbial agents on the same plot of land results in higher crop yields, better quality, whiter peanut fruits, reduced disease spots, uniform fruit distribution, and higher purchase prices. Seeing higher returns, farmers' enthusiasm has significantly increased. The ARC bio coupling technology has also been recognized by the academic community. In 2024, this technology was selected as one of the top ten major leading agricultural technologies in China. Among the 19 major national scientific and technological achievements released at the Zhongguancun Forum in 2025, this is the only representative major scientific and technological achievement in the field of agriculture. It is expected that in the next five years, the demand for ARC bio microbial compound fertilizer in the market will maintain a relatively high growth rate, which will not only help farmers increase production and income, but also open up new space for enterprise development. ”Wu Liang said that in the future, Xinyangfeng will continue to cooperate with the Li Peiwu team, focusing on the goals of promoting crop growth, bill of lading production, and food safety issues, focusing on the direction of "microbiology+", and continue to collaborate on the research and development of new products to jointly develop agricultural new quality productivity. Soybean and peanut are important grain and oil crops in China. Soybean oil and peanut oil account for more than half of the total edible vegetable oil, which is of great significance to feed safety and the development of aquaculture. Li Peiwu stated that the team will continue to tackle research and uncover the mechanisms behind ARC bio coupling technology, while exploring the application of related technologies to other leguminous crops, forage, and even non leguminous crops, to help China's grain cultivation become greener and more efficient. Reporter's note: Leveraging the advantages of deep cooperation between industry, academia, and research, ARC bio microbial compound fertilizer has been developed to promote the improvement and increase in yield of peanuts and soybeans. Why is China leading the world in this regard? During the interview, the reporter deeply realized that deep cooperation between industry, academia, and research institutions, as well as close collaboration between research institutes and enterprises, are important reasons. The team led by Li Peiwu is rooted in the practical planting of leguminous crops in China. They have condensed scientific problems from production practice, solved two major scientific problems of aflatoxin pollution control and nitrogen fixation efficiency improvement, and developed ARC biological microbial agents, laying a solid foundation for improving the quality and yield of peanuts and soybeans. As an important leading fertilizer enterprise in the industry, Xinyangfeng is sensitive to the market, has rich experience in production and research and development, and has overcome a series of challenges such as the combination of microbial agents and chemical fertilizers, achieving the goal of "carrying bacteria with fertilizer". Both sides are working together to carry out large-scale demonstrations in the fields, allowing farmers to see the results and helping good technologies and products benefit the vast number of growers. China's universities have abundant innovation resources and profound accumulation of scientific and technological achievements. Enterprises are on the front line of production, with rich practical experience and needs, meeting their technological needs and enhancing their innovation capabilities. Industry university research cooperation is an important way to achieve this. Leveraging the advantages of China's institutional mechanisms and promoting the deep integration of scientific and technological innovation with industrial innovation can help form a strong synergy for the development of new quality productive forces. (New Society)