Abstract: Silicon is a necessary element for the growth of rice. Iron and steel slag is a good raw material for silicon fertilizer. It is a promising and alternative way of treating solid byproduct that producing silicon fertilizer from iron and steel slag. It still needs to increase its available silicon content to improve its efficiency in the activation process. The activation methods can be divided into three categories:mechanical activation, thermal chemical activation and chemical activation. The advantages and disadvantages of the three activation techniques were discussed. In the future, the activation technology of available silicon in iron and steel slag will need to meet the production needs of large capacity, high efficiency and diversification.