VINACHEM

In addition to improving human wellbeing and economic development, sustainably managed fertilizer use also has a vitally important role in supporting the environment. In honour of World Environment Day on June the 5th here’s a look at just some of the many ways that plant nutrition can help protect the environment.

Deforestation Can Be Reduced by Sustainably Increasing Productivity on Existing Farmland with Fertilizers
Increased yields from fertilizers helped preserve 1 billion hectares of land between 1961-2005

By providing consistent amounts of the essential nutrients that crops need to survive and thrive, fertilizers can ensure consistently high crop yields. This sustainable intensification of crop productivity on existing farmland forestalls deforestation and loss of peatlands, wetlands and grasslands which represent about 10% of global GHG emissions.

Land Degradation Can Be Prevented and Restored by Replenishing Soil Nutrient Pools with Fertilizers

Globally 3.2 billion people are affected by land degradation while 24 billion tonnes of fertile soil are lost every year

Degraded soils that lack essential plant nutrients pose serious risks for people’s food and nutrition security and also raise environmental problems. Continuous soil depletion leads to a decline in soil fertility, low yields and, indirectly, conversion of natural habitats to cropping. In extreme cases it can also trigger desertification. Fertilizers have an important role to play in combatting degraded soil and desertification as they restore and maintain soil fertility, a key component of healthy soils.

Carbon Sequestration on Farmland Can Be Increased by Using Fertilizers

Soils represent 89% of agriculture's climate change mitigation potential and are the largest terrestrial pool of carbon, capable of storing the equivalent to 180-1100 tonnes of CO₂ per hectare.

Fertilizers help increase carbon capture on arable land by increasing biomass production, parts of which remain in the soil in the form of plant roots and stems. Using on-farm organic sources of nutrients supplemented with mineral fertilizers not only improves soil health and productivity but results in greater carbon sequestration which removes CO₂ from the atmosphere. Discover more about fertilizer’s role in protecting and capturing Soil Organic Carbon in our special infographic.

Food Can be Grown with Less Water Using Fertigation 

A recent study in India found that sub-surface drip fertigation systems produced the same amount of wheat and rice yields using 40% less water than flood irrigation and 20% less urea

Fully water-soluble fertilizers can be combined with irrigation water, known as fertigation, to provide plants with nutrients and water in the most efficient way possible which can help turn arid and semi-arid land into productive farmland. Fertigation can also reduce nitrogen run-off by up to 70% compared to other fertilizer application methods and needs up to 50% less fertilizers to produce the same yields.

Nutrient Losses to the Environment are Minimized by Applying 4R Nutrient Stewardship

Nutrient runoff to the Great Barrier Reef in Australia diminished by 18% per year between 2009 and 2015 thanks to the adoption of best management practices by farmers

Some of the nitrogen and phosphorus that fertilizers contain can be lost and contribute to greenhouse gas emissions to the air and eutrophication of waterbodies. While losses cannot be avoided completely due to the complex biological nature of the nitrogen and phosphorus cycles, they can be successfully minimized through the application of 4R Nutrient Stewardship (applying the right nutrient source, at the right rate, at the right time, in the right place). Read more about how plant nutrition management is protecting water in our special backgrounders on SDG 6 and SDG 14. - IFA -