Innovations in fertilizers to ensure food and nutrition security in China Prem Bindraban International Symposium on Improvement of Nutrient Use Efficiency in China under Zero Growth of Chemical Fertilizers March 17 18, 2016 Beijing China pbindraban@vfrc.org
Average Annual Nitrogen Balance China oversupply 11.8 Mt 68 kg/ha 174 Mha SSAfrica Production 2X -200 deficiency 0 (ponds N/acre) excess 220 little or no crop land National Geographic, 2013
Planetary Boundaries From Holocene to Anthropocene Rockstrom et al., 2009 J.G. Conijn, F.J. de Ruijter, J.J. Schröder and Prem S. Bindraban. 2013. Methodology to assess the impact of fertilizer strategies on planetary boundaries. VFRC Report 2013/3. Virtual Fertilizer Research Center, Washington, D.C. 21 pp.; 1 table; 3 figs.; 38 ref.
Index value fertilizer N (billion kg) Global production, acreage, N-use 400 300 tons ton/ha 100 200 100 ha 50 Source: FAOstat 0 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 year
4R & Hysteresis/Recycling Hysteresis in P uptake vs. P application; 1965 and 2007 (Western Europe) France country-scale P recycling 50% 4R Nutrient Stewardship Phosphorus Hardly any increase in application rate expected up to 2050 (Western Europe) Sattari et al., 2012. PNAS 109 (16): 6348 6353 Senthilkumar et al., 2014. Resources, Conservation and Recycling 87: 97 108
Cereal yields (t ha ) Cereal yield (ton ha 1 ) Cereal yield (ton ha 1 ) Grain yield (ton ha 1 ) Schlegel & Havlin, 1995. J. Prod. Agric, 8: 181-185 Water Water productivity (m (m3 3 kg ton 1 ) 1 ) Rockström, 2003. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B 358. On-line 12 Synergy between nutrients Ecological synergy 46 kg P 2 O 5 ha -1 10 Use efficiency increase with higher yield level 8 4 0 kg P 2 O 5 ha -1 5 0 0 100 200 N rate (kg ha 1 ) 0 0 5 10 yield (ton ha 1 ) 9 6 Improved agronomic package R 2 = 0.84 2000 9 6 9 8 7 6 5 Lack of synergy at low levels; Use efficiencies extremely low 3 0 R 2 = 0.68 1961 Europe-15 (N=14) (N=14) 1 R 2 = 0.01 Sub Sahara Africa (N=28) Africa (N=28) 0 0 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 0 200 N rate (kg ha 1 ) 400 600 N rate (kg ha 1 ) N rate (kg ha 1 ) 3 4 3 2 R 2 = 0.02 Bindraban, Löffler, Rabbinge, 2008. Int. J. Techn & Glob, 4 (3): 276 295
Cereal Yields (ton per hectare) Basic processes (N 2 O), (NO x ), (NH 3 ) Inert N 2 into reactive N N-fixation (legumes) Natural ecosystems Fertilizer Manufacture & Mining Inert P, K, into reactive P, K, NPK Soil weathering P, K, Mg, S, Ca, Fe, Mn, Zn, B, Mo, Cu, Cl, 20-80% lost (NO 3- ), (PO 4 3- ) Livestock Consumption by humans
Cereal Yields (ton per hectare) Annually 105 Mt N 18 Mt P Basic concepts Food 60 Mt N 4 Mt P Annually 105 Mt N - Recycle 18 Mt P - Recycle Natural ecosystems NPK Fertilizer Manufacture & Mining Livestock Instantaneous uptake Consumption by humans
Biology to drive fertilizer design Chemists and industrial processing engineers develop fertilizers Novel packaging of nutrients Biologists to guide chemists From bulk to specific Understand plant nutrient metabolism, transport and uptake mechanisms
From bulk chemistry to fine-, bio- and nano-bio-chemistry Bulk Chemistry 4R Nutrient Stewardship Next Generation Fertilizers Nano-particle in shoot; Recycling Bio-, bio-nano-chemistry Delivery mechanisms Courtesy Dimkpa Intake/Uptake
Plant nutrient delivery strategies Phyllosphere bacteria Foliar application of nutrients Chemical fertilizer formulation (nutrient composition/shape/size) Infusion of nutrients Microbial based interventions Endophytes Free-living soil bacteria Fungi (mycorrhizae) Seed coating with nutrients Plant exudates Biological nitrogen fixation
Wheat Nutritional content Declines also reported for fruits and vegetables (a.o. Mg, Ca, Cu, Fe) Mayer, 1997. British Food Journal 99/6: 207 211. Ming-Sheng Fan et al., 2008. Wheat Monasterio and Graham, 2000. Decline in soil Zn content from 6 to 0.7 mg kg-1 (ppm) in 23 years (69 crops). Bihar, India.
Bouis, Boy-Gallego and Meenakshi (2011) Health impacts of deficiencies Micronutrient Malnutrition (% prevalence) Interventions Supplementation Medical / Dietary Fortification Food processing Breeding Dietary diversity Zn deficiency Fertilization
The Micronutrient Initiative A new vision for micronutrients For improving harvests, human health and the environment China Agricultural University
Multiple functions of micronutrients Improve Human Health NPK vs NPK+MNs Nutrient fortification Plant Disease Control Balanced Micronutrient Fertilizers Environmental Benefits Yield Enhancement Bindraban et al, 2015. Dimkpa & Bindraban, 2015.
Uptake efficiency Line of innovative products 10 kg S/ha 2-3 kg Zn/ha 1 kg B/ha Gram per Ton Maize N 23500 P 3700 K 12600 S 1500 Mg 1400 Ca 100 Fe 175 Mn 8 Zn 26 Cu 4 B 5 Mo 0.6 Blending Coating Core Embedding Liquid Foliar Micnobit
Plant uptake of intact nanoparticles Entry via endocytosis CuO NPs in shoot FeO NPs in shoot TiO2 NPs in shoot Dimkpa et al., 2013; Larue et al., 2012; Wang et al., 2012; Ghafariyan et al., 2014
Micno-bits and plant health Servin, A.; Elmer, W.; Mukherjee, A.; De la Torre-Roche, R.; Hamdi, H.; White, J.C.; Bindraban, P.; Dimkpa, C. 2015. A review of the use of engineered nanomaterials to suppress plant disease and enhance crop yield. J. Nano. Res. 17:92.
Intelligent nano-enabled biosensitive fertilizers Production root exudates stimulated under nutrient deficiency Root exudate sensor ( biosensor ) incorporated into a nanopolymer film Nutrient (urea or micronutrient NPs) encapsulated with the nanopolymer biosensor system Interaction biosensor with cognate root exudate changes permeability of the nanopolymer film Release of nutrients from urea or NPs according to crop demand Monreal et al., ongoing studies
P-Rec Grinding P Pathways Nano-PR Soil Plant Bio-Nano-PR Bio industrial acids Organic acids BacIPR BacPR Soil Plant Acids P-products Soil Plant PR P-G Nano-APR Ore Ore Acids Nano/microorganism: Coating/mixing with (micro) nutrients; Contaminants Compound: NPK Etc
Spatial ground rules Generic modelling (No lime added) (micro-) nutrients recommendations Farm experiments
Facing the challenge Identify and exploit ecological synergy Thank You Enhance 4R Nutrient Stewardship Unlock potential of micronutrients Tune current fertilizer products and technologies to crop and ecosystem needs Improve quantity and quality of food Industry to boost R&D for innovative fertilizers Win-Win for all China should be able to turn this challenge into an opportunity leading the world in innovative fertilizers and fertilization technology and meet its food needs even more sustainably.