Ensuring food safety while reducing agricultural non-point source pollution is quite challenging, especially in developing and underdeveloped countries. Effective systematic strategies and comprehensive technologies need to be developed for agricultural non-point source pollution control at the watershed scale to improve surface water quality. In this review, a proposal is made for a full time-space governance strategy that prioritizes source management followed by endpoint water pollution control. The 4R chain technology system is specifically reviewed, including source reduction, process retention, nutrient reuse and water restoration. The 4R chain technology system with the full time-space governance strategy was applied at the scale of an administrative village and proved to be a feasible solution for reducing agricultural non-point source pollution in China. In the future, a monitoring system needs to be established to trace N and P transport. Additionally, new smart fertilizer and intelligent equipment need to be developed, and relevant governance standards and supportive policies need to be set to enhance the efficacy of agricultural non-point source pollution control.