Discover the new paradigm for plant nutrition

Human well-being, a part of which involves nutrition, requires us to ensure that our crops and livestock are effectively supported in the best possible way for proper nourishment.

Nutrient contributions play a crucial role in crop and livestock production for food security, as well as for other uses in the bioeconomy.

As explained by The Scientific Panel on Responsible Plant Nutrition, it’s vital to reduce harmful environmental impacts caused by nutrient losses and contribute to the restoration of soil health. The new paradigm for plant nutrition follows a food system approach in which multiple socio-economic, environmental, and health objectives must be achieved.

What is the issue?

World agricultural output has grown at an average annual rate of about 2.2% during the past 60 years, although with huge variations among countries. Similar growth will be required in the near future to feed a growing world population and improve rural livelihoods.

Over the longer term, slowing population growth, changing diets, reduced food losses and waste, and increased nutrient recycling will ease the pressure to produce more food and utilize more natural resources in that process.

On the other hand, in many regions, intensive farming to support the emerging food consumption patterns has resulted in nutrient-related externalities that are difficult to manage, such as land degradation, biodiversity loss, unsustainable water withdrawal, eutrophication of many freshwater and coastal marine ecosystems, increased greenhouse gas emissions or inequality among farmers.

It has been estimated that $12 trillion hidden health, environmental and socio-economic costs are associated with the global food system, which is larger than the system’s output at current prices. While food security through increasing crop and animal productivity will remain hugely important in light of an expected population of about 9.5 billion by 2050, it is no longer the only objective. The transition to a more sustainable global food system requires all stakeholders to manage nutrients and their entire life cycle in a more holistic manner.

Future plant nutrition solutions will have to address multiple global and regional challenges related to nutrients in the food system.

How can we overcome the current global nutrient imbalance?

For many decades, rising crop and livestock production was closely coupled with increasing input of nitrogen and other nutrients, as well as international trade of feed and food. This has led to a global divide, ranging from large nutrient input-output surpluses and environmental pollution in some regions to large nutrient deficits in others. On a global scale, how can future growth in primary crop production be decoupled from growth in fertilizer consumption? What are the country-specific targets and roadmaps for fertilizer use and nutrient use efficiency that will enable that?

What can be done?

Human development, biological process requirements and mass balance principles make it clear that mineral nutrients, including fertilizers, will continue to be major ingredients of future food systems. 

It is critical to develop integrated and targeted plant nutrition strategies and practices that minimize tradeoffs between productivity and the environment – and are viable in the farming and business systems of different regions, nations and localities. Integration in this context has several dimensions, including a multi-nutrient food system approach, greater recycling and utilization of all available nutrient sources, alignment with other agronomic and stewardship practices, and compliance with high sustainability standards.

The new paradigm of responsible plant nutrition encompasses a broad array of scientific and engineering know-how, technologies, agronomic practices, business models and policies that directly or indirectly affect the production and utilization of mineral nutrients in agri-food systems.

If you want to know more in depth about how actions should be taken on the subject, download the full article from Scientific Panel on Responsible Plant Nutrition.