As fertiliser prices rocket, to around four times higher than they were in 2020, scientists are launching the UK’s first comprehensive strategy setting out how we could transform our management of phosphorus.
As fertiliser prices rocket, to around four times higher than they were in 2020, scientists are launching the UK’s first comprehensive strategy setting out how we could transform our management of phosphorus. It provides a roadmap for how the country can better manage this vital element, which plants need to grow and is essential for food production, but which is also behind environmental pollution in our rivers and lakes.
The UK Phosphorus Transformation Strategy has been drawn up by scientists from UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH) and other institutes. It outlines a pressing need for new solutions and scaling-up of existing innovations to prevent future damage to aquatic biodiversity and habitat, reduce reliance on volatile import markets and to unlock new opportunities for agriculture.
The ongoing war in Ukraine highlights the food security risks associated with reliance on imports of critical farm inputs like phosphorus. Crop and livestock production in the UK is almost entirely dependent on imported phosphorus – around 174,000 tonnes annually – contained within feeds and fertilisers. However, less than half of this is used productively to grow food due to inefficiencies in its application and management.
Read more at: UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology
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