Humic acid has been used earlier in the world. During World War I, according to Konova's suggestion, the Soviet Union used ammoniated peat (that is, ammonium humate) as fertilizer, but it did not show any fertilizer effect. After that, Konova continued the in-depth research for nearly ten years and found that the application of ammonium humate must be at a low concentration to exert fertilizer effect; if too much fertilizer is applied, the concentration of humic acid in the roots of the crop will be too high, which will inhibit the growth of the crop. Since then, ammoniated peat (ammonium humate) has been affirmed and promoted in the Soviet Union.

At the beginning of the 1950s, Kozo Koizumi Kitotsuguchi developed the process of treating lignite with nitric acid to produce nitrohumic acid, which was used in agriculture and received the attention of the industry. At the same time, sodium humate began to be introduced into China as a plant growth stimulant, but there are more written materials and few practical application reports.

In the early 1960s, Shanghai Institute of Chemical Technology and other universities and research institutes began to develop nitrohumic acid and agricultural fertilization experiments. Beginning in 1965, the army 81076 chemical fertilizer plant was established at a 2 tons per day nitro humic acid pilot plant. After five months of trial production, it was expanded to an annual output of 10,000 tons of nitro humic acid ammonium fertilizer plant. Because the raw materials of humic acid fertilizer are mainly peat, lignite and weathered coal, the production and application of humic acid fertilizer has attracted the attention of Comrade Gao Zhende, director of the Comprehensive Utilization Department of the Ministry of Coal Industry. After the running, advocacy and appeal of Comrade Gao Zhende, it has attracted the attention of the leaders of the State Council, agriculture, forestry, and medical and health departments. Since then, since the beginning of 1974, the agricultural application of humic acid has been widely and rapidly promoted throughout the country.

Until today, humic acid has an unshakable position in the international agricultural field due to its series of positive effects in agriculture and its green and pollution-free characteristics. It is bound to be the inevitable development direction of international agriculture in the future.