What is the fertilizer industry doing to promote nutrient stewardship?
What is the fertilizer industry doing to promote nutrient stewardship?
April 14, 2015
4R Nutrient Stewardship
A Policy Toolkit
March 2015
International Fertilizer Industry Association (IFA)
Optimized use of fertilizers by farmers around the world is necessary for food and nutrition security and for safeguarding natural resources and ecosystems. The fertilizer industry has taken up nutrient stewardship as a priority area of work in support of this fact.
Fertilizers of an organic or mineral nature replenish soil nutrients removed after each harvest, provide nutrients to plants so they can grow bountiful crops, ensure higher agricultural yields and thus make an important contribution to food security. Utilizing fertilizers to increase productivity of existing arable land helps slow down encroachment on forests and natural habitats, thereby making an important contribution to biodiversity preservation and climate change mitigation.
The benefits of nutrient stewardship include reduced environmental impact, increased productivity and biodiversity preservation. More judicious use of fertilizers by farmers also enables them to improve farming profitability. One industry framework seeking to achieve these outcomes is 4R nutrient stewardship.