Nutrient Stewardship &

Sustainable Fertilizer Use Dr. Shamie ZingoreInternational Plant Nutrition Institute, Sub-Saharan Africa Program

Dr. Steve Phillips International Plant Nutrition Institute, North America Program

FERTASA 58th Annual Congress 201819 April 2018, Kempton Park, South Africa

Outline

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2

4

3

4

1

2

3

4

Global impact of fertilizer

Sustainable fertilizer use and future challenges

4R Nutrient Stewardship and Sustainable fertilizer use in global regions

Concluding remarks

1

2

3

4

Fertilizer industry science-based organization

Research and development focused on sustainable management of plant nutrition

- Applied plant nutrition research

- Capacity building

- Knowledge management & dissemination

- Member company support

① The International Plant Nutrition Institute

Member Companies Affiliate Members

① The International Plant Nutrition Institute

① Global impact of fertilizer

Fertilizer use intensity (kg/ha arable land)

Aver

age

cere

al cr

op y

ield

(kg/

ha)

Source: https://ourworldindata.org

Crop yields and food security

Fertilizer contributionfor global yields

60%

Social & economic development↗Land degradation prevention ❌

① Global impact of fertilizerLand preservation

0

50

100

150

200

250

0

1

2

3

4

5

1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010

Ferti

lizer

con

sum

ptio

n

(m

illion

T n

utrie

nts)

Cul

tivat

ed la

nd (b

illion

ha)

Series2 Series3 Series1

Land spared by fertilizer use

2.4 b ha

① Global impact of fertilizerEnvironmental challenges

Greenhouse gas emission

Eutrophication

Ground water contamination

Fertilizer manufacture and nitrous oxide emissions

Nitrogen and phosphorus losses to water bodies

Nitrogen leaching in intensively fertilized regions

Leaching

Gas l

osse

s

Erosion

② Sustainable fertilizer use and future challenges

0

300

600

900

1200

Sub-SaharanAfrica

World South AsiaNum

ber u

nder

nour

ishe

d x

106 1990 2014

6,1 7,2 6,8

0,922,1 3,8

0

3

6

9

12

2015 2050 2100

Popu

latio

n x

109

Rest of world Sub-Saharan Africa

The food security challenge

0

0,1

0,2

0,3

1990 2050

Arab

le la

nd (h

a/pe

rson

)

The land challenge

② Sustainable fertilizer use and future challenges

The climate challenge Attainable yields projected to

decrease by 15% in Africa

- Maize ⬇ 15%- Rice ⬇ 11%- Wheat ⬇ 34%

Crop production must double to meet future food requirements by a population of 2 bn

② Sustainable fertilizer use and future challenges

Sustainable intensification Increased productivity on existing land and virgin land protection

Sequesters atmospheric C

Minimizes negative environmental impacts

Achieve social and economic goals

② Sustainable fertilizer use and future challenges

③ 4R Nutrient Stewardship & Sustainable fertilizer use

4R Nutrient Stewardship

4R Nutrient Stewardship: Principles & application

③ 4R Nutrient Stewardship & Sustainable fertilizer use

③ 4R Nutrient Stewardship & Sustainable fertilizer use

4R Nutrient Stewardship: Principles & application

Specific scientific principles apply to fertilizer BMPs defined by 4Rs Applicable as a group and individually. All 4Rs must be right! Principles are both global and applicable at the farm management

level. Application differ widely depending on the specific cropping

system (region and crop combination) under consideration.

The principles are universal, but their application must be adapted to the local context at different scales.

Sub-Saharan Africa

Brazil/SA

North America

India

NUE =N output

----------------------Sum of N inputs

Fertilizer-N+ Manure-N recycled+ Crop BNF+ Atmospheric deposition+ (irrigation, biosolids…)

Source: IFA (Adapted from Zhang et al., 2015)

Nut

rien

t use

effi

cien

cy

Income level

100%Hypothetical limit to NUE

China

4R Nutrient Stewardship: Global production systems

③ 4R Nutrient Stewardship & Sustainable fertilizer use

Global increase in NUE to achieve food security and environmental stewardship goals in 2050

80%

0.72

0.30 0.25

0.68

0.4-0.5

Nutrient mining

③ 4R Nutrient Stewardship & Sustainable fertilizer use

Case I North America: High yields + High FUE

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015

Mai

ze g

rain

yie

ld, b

u/A

Double-X to single-X hybrids

Expansion of irrigated area, increased N fertilizer rates

Soil testing, balanced NPK fertilization, conservation tillage

Transgenic (Bt) pest resistance

Integrated pest management

Precision fertilization and high-speed planters

Auto-steer tractors

③ 4R Nutrient Stewardship & Sustainable fertilizer use

Case I North America: High yields + High FUE

③ 4R Nutrient Stewardship & Sustainable fertilizer use

Case I North America: 4R Priority and Focus

Facilitating ‘big & small data’ stewardship

Advanced precision agriculture technologies

4R incorporation into college curriculums & Certified Crop Advisors programs

③ 4R Nutrient Stewardship & Sustainable fertilizer use

Case II India: moderate yields + low FUE

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

0

3

6

9

12

15

18

21

24

Yie

ld (k

g/ha

)

Area

and

Pro

duct

ion

Area (mha)Production (mt)Yield (kg/ha)

20

30

40

50

60

1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005

N use efficiency

?

PFP N

(kg

grai

n/kg

N)

③ 4R Nutrient Stewardship & Sustainable fertilizer use

Case II India: 4R Priority and Focus

Research and policy interventions to support balanced fertilizer use

- Adequate K application rates

- Limiting secondary and micronutrients

Establish and promote guidelines on right time to match crop demand, split applications

Right place to match the spatial pattern of crop demand and to protect sensitive areas

Scale smallholder on-farm 4R nutrient management in major cereals through decision support tools

③ 4R Nutrient Stewardship & Sustainable fertilizer use

Case II India: 4R Priority and Focus

Nutrient Use (kg ha-1) Maize yield (t ha-1)N P2O5 K2O

Andhra Pradesh State

Current Practice 288 153 68 8

Nutrient Expert recommendation

203 54 74 10

Improving yields, fertilizer use efficiency and profits using IPNI’s ‘Nutrient Expert’ 4R-based decision support tool

③ 4R Nutrient Stewardship & Sustainable fertilizer use

Case III Sub-Saharan Africa: low yields + nutrient mining

0

25

50

75

100

125

150

Fert

ilize

r N u

se (k

g/ha

)

0

2

4

6

8

10

Mai

ze y

ield

s (t/

ha)

③ 4R Nutrient Stewardship & Sustainable fertilizer use

Case III Sub-Saharan Africa: 4R Priority and Focus

Increased fertilizer use

Balanced fertilizer use- Secondary and micronutrients

Integrated soil fertility management to rehabilitate degraded soils

Source, rate, time and place adaptation to climate change

Knowledge dissemination to support adoption of 4Rs

0,4 1,02,8 3,72,7 2,0

1,7 0,82,21,2

1,2 1,6

0

2

4

6

8

MaizeBurundi44 Sites

MaizeMozambique

17 Sites

MaizeRwanda North

17 Sites

MaizeRwanda East

59 Sites

Mai

ze y

ield

, t h

a-1

Secondary/micronutrient yield incrementNPK yield incrementControl

③ 4R Nutrient Stewardship & Sustainable fertilizer use

4R Nutrient Stewardship: Training & knowledge transfer

Training programs for specific regions

- Researchers- Students- Extension systems and

crop advisors- Farmers

③ 4R Nutrient Stewardship & Sustainable fertilizer use

4R Nutrient Stewardship: Training & knowledge transfer

③ 4R Nutrient Stewardship & Sustainable fertilizer use

4R Nutrient Stewardship: Future innovations

Precision agriculture supported by data science and geospatial analytics

Rapid and cost effective diagnostics using spectroscopy based tools

Fertilizer nanotechnology

Integration of fertilizer with bio-products

THANK YOU

Dr Shamie Zingore| szingore@ipni.net

Nutrient Stewardship is

at the core of sustainable

utilization of finite

agricultural resources to

support growing global

demands for food, feed,

fuel and fiber.

④ Concluding remarks