Where economics fails #EUAgriculture policy, science quietly steps in

Post-2020, balancing the European Union’s agricultural competitiveness against the pressing issues of food security and environmental sustainability is going to require a formidable display of plate-spinning.

This critical discussion will be high on the agenda when European heads of state gather in Brussels on February 23 to discuss the EU’s long-term budget. With post-Brexit budgetary pressures likely to result in a reduction of subsidies to farmers on one side, and growing populations demanding a doubling of food production by 2050 on the other, European Commissioner for Agriculture Phil Hogan will need to demonstrate how the bloc can produce more for less - reducing the environmental footprint as he goes – when he gives more details in the months ahead on his plans to modernize and streamline the CAP.

His ace in the hole may just be the fertilizer companies.

BASF, Yara International, K+S, Israel Chemicals, and Nutrien are investing heavily in new research and development to increase the overall effectiveness of their products. New technologies are resulting in products that enable farmers to achieve high yields while, at the same time, limiting or reducing agriculture’s impact on the environment.

EuroChem Group, a leading global fertilizer company, has developed products such as slow-release, non-chloride, and inhibitor-treated fertilizers that ensure better nutrient uptake in plants.  Inhibitors delay the conversion of urea into ammonium and ammonia, potentially cutting the loss of nitrogen by up to 50 percent.

“We’re investing in the best available technologies to manage our environmental footprint,” explained Alexander Landia, chairman of the board at EuroChem. “But our commitment to R&D is essential. We believe more effective, environmental sensitive fertilizers will be essential as demographic trends mean we must produce more food from existing stocks of agricultural land.”

Advertisement

Fertilizer companies are making sustainability commitments to meet environmental goals. These include water reduction and efficiency measures and the provision of water infrastructure in local communities, and the application of best available technologies (BAT), particularly in production, to manage emissions, resource consumption and waste levels.

These efforts appear to be on track: for instance farmers in Switzerland, are entitled to a subsidy from a climate protection foundation that promotes use of more environmentally friendly fertilizers. The subsidy applies to farmers who  apply the company’s nitrification inhibitor ENTEC, as it provides more nitrogen directly to crops, reducing the accumulation of nitrates in soil and enabling a 65% drop in emissions of nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas also known as N₂O, into the atmosphere. Entec is currently the only fertilizer recognized by the programme.

The fertilizer industry will remain important in helping farmers increase yields and output while managing the environmental footprint of agriculture. This role reflects several converging trends, in particular tougher climate change and resource-efficiency legislation together with increased societal interest in sustainability and a growing public focus on the environmental impact of agriculture. The industry’s efforts will feature in the environmental landscape studied by policymakers at the European Commission and more widely as they consider new measures to address the need for increases in sustainable food production.

According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, the world’s population will reach 9.1 billion by 2050, 34% higher than today. Trade body Fertilizers Europe estimates that with existing technology European agriculture contributes about 9.2% of total GHG emissions, compared to 13.5% for agriculture globally.

Share this article: