Although overuse of fertilizer has caused environmental damage around the world, some scientists are calling for an increase in its application in African agriculture.

In a paper published today in Science, a group of 16 researchers from the U.S., Brazil and China want to provide more subsidies for fertilizer use to enrich poor quality soil in Africa, while decreasing fertilizer use in other parts of the world. “The situation in Africa is totally different from where China is now or where the U.S. and Europe are,” says lead author Peter Vitousek, an ecologist at Stanford University.

Their commentary came out of a workshop at the Aspen Global Change Institute last year, sponsored by NASA and several nonprofits. The researchers point out the “nutrient imbalance” between corn growers in northern China, who are using 1296 pounds (588 kilograms) of nitrogen fertilizer per hectare every year compared with 15.7 pounds (7 kilograms) per hectare in Kenya.

With 500 pounds (227 kilograms) of China’s nitrogen input going to waste every year on each hectare of land, the researchers say it could halve fertilizer use with no decline in its impressive corn yields. Kenya, by contrast, is losing 114 pounds (52 kilograms) of nitrogen per hectare per year, meaning that soil fertility is on the decline, trapping farmers in a cycle of land degradation and poverty.

Of course, asking China to cut its use of fertilizer use isn’t likely to upset environmentalists, Vitousek says. Human fertilizer use has doubled the amount of nitrogen and phosphorous entering rivers. Agricultural runoff pollutes freshwater streams, leading to the kind of unchecked algae blooms that have smothered marine ecosystems in the “dead zone” at the mouth of the Mississippi River.

That's why controversy will likely stem from the scientists’ call to increase subsidies for fertilizer use in Africa. Vitousek’s colleagues in the environmental community, who he declined to name, have already approached him and said, “I understand there’s a move to introduce fertilizer in African agriculture. ... Haven’t we learned anything?”

But there are concerns from the policy side as well.  Ephraim Nkonya, an agricultural economist at the International Food Policy Research Institute, says that increasing fertilizer subsidies is not going to solve Africa’s food problems and they may in fact aggravate them. He points out that 35 percent of Zambia’s agricultural budget goes to fertilizer. Nkonya, a Tanzanian, says the problem is that the subsidies often end up in the hands of the “rich” and “well-connected” rather than poor farmers.

Nkonya says that getting fertilizer to the right people is only a small part of the puzzle. He recommends using organic soil fertility management by adding manure to the soil and alternating corn crops with beans, which fix nitrogen from the atmosphere and make it available to crops. These practices, he says, "are quite environmentally friendly and at the same time they increase yields.”

5 Comments

1. 1. Mariana Fulger 04:06 PM 6/18/09

   Must be a way to be well.

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2. 2. Carl Firley 11:32 AM 6/24/09

   The science of "Oceanponics" utilizes hydroponic technology combined with SEA WATER PRECISELY DILUTED with RAIN WATER to produce hyper-nutritious plants. Wheat grass, for example, has been assayed and found to contain 91 elements of the periodic table. Books that describe this technology are available, and the foremost expert on this technology is Dr. Don Jansen, now in Hawaii developing an oceanponic farm. In my opinion, the world's needs for food grown by this means can easily be met. Conventional fertilizer will become obsolete once the 'secret' of oceanponics becomes common knowledge.

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3. 3. eco-steve 04:39 AM 6/25/09

   Carl Firley : Applying hydroponic methods to African agriculture surely makes sense.
   But we live in a world where factory chimneys emit greenhouse gases. These can be converted into organic fertilisers using biochar technology. See www. eprida.com (technical pages).
   There may be little inustrial plant in Africa, but atmospheric pollution alone can be converted into fertilisers by this same method, which is now economically viable for poor countries.
   We may already have most of the solutions we need...

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4. 4. Kbd Durlave Roy 12:39 PM 6/25/09

   Dear Sir,
   Good Morning Sir.
   
   Basis of Northern Bangladeshi fertilizer rcommendation for crops:
   
   Integrated organic and inorganic fertilization is needed to
   increase the yield ofcrops.Northern fertilizer policy
   is initiated based on the longterm experimental findings,
   practical experience and observations.Fertilizer
   recommendation for any crop is made depending on soil,
   plant analytical results, yield of crops.so, reach
   desired goal checked-climate,plant population,pest and
   disease control measures,the critical values of
   specific crop soil in specific areas.pls visit
   www.northernfertilizer.org
   
   Thanking You
   Kbd. Durlave Roy
   R& D MANAGER
   NORTHERN AGRO SERVICES LTD
   
   

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5. 5. Carl Firley 01:10 PM 6/25/09

   Eco-Steve: My thanks to you for informing me of the means to convert greeenhouse gasses into organic fertilizers. I have just perused your website and it's super. Yes, no effort should be spared to convert greenhouse gasses, and I'm all for it. When focusing specifically on the comparitive nutritional merits of both options, however, Seaponics (noted above) would be preferred. Ocean water contains ALL of the elements in the periodic table, and traces of 91 elements have been found in wheatgrass grown by this method. Tomatos assayed at the University of Florida contain traces of 64 elements. Compare this to conventional fertilizers composed of a meagre three elements and the nutritional advantages of Sea water become obvious. Besides, it's essentially FREE. Most importantly, persons ingesting this wheatgrass are strenthening their immune systems to the maximum. In my opinion hyper-nutritious wheatgrass should be used in conjunction with virtually any medical protocol to fight disease. I have seen this done successfully. The cost of acquiring sea water is minimal while the cost of converting factory emissions into fertilizer would be substantially greater. Perhaps a compromise should be considered? In areas where pure ocean or sea water is conveniently located, let's specialize in developing Seaponic Farms. Deeper into the hinterlands, find the means to transport the converted organic fertilizers to conventional farms. When considering the size of the planet earth, and the immediacy of needs for combatting global warming, developing new fuels, and providing adequate nutrition for the peoples of the world, we shouldn't regard our two technologies as competitors. There's more than enough room for both. More information on Dr. Jansen and Seaponics is available at: http://www.seaagri.com/docs/DJansen.htm I wish you complete and immediate success in your efforts.

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