In response to the Committee on Agriculture’s (COAG) request for improved food safety and the safe use of fertilizers, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has put together a landmark publication: The International Code of Conduct for the Sustainable Use and Management of Fertilizers.
The Code of Conduct, applauded by the fertilizer industry, provides an important framework for everyone involved – directly and indirectly – with fertilizers. At a high level, the FAO hopes the code will encourage those in the fertilizer industry to make decisions at every level that will minimize the environmental effects of fertilizer, while maximizing the benefits it can provide in terms of soil health, crop yield, and nutritional value.
Why the Fertilizer Code of Conduct is Necessary
Fertilizer in agriculture has been both a blessing and a curse; widespread use of mineral nutrients is responsible for food security and adequate nutrition, livelihoods and entire economies. And yet, misguided information and overuse of these life-saving elements has brought on burdens not easily undone; dead zones in waterways, groundwater that is too contaminated to drink, and soils that have become exhausted of their life-giving abilities.
This contradictory dynamic has brought us into a cycle exacerbated by a ballooning population: without fertilizers, yields will not be high enough to feed the growing population, but without proper oversight and a more sustainable approach to fertilizer use, issues will worsen, causing widespread malnutrition, famine, and ecological disaster.
The Fertilizer Code of Conduct is aimed at providing the framework needed to break this cycle, and will assist the Global Soil Partnership (a special division of the FAO) in implementing their Voluntary Guidelines for Sustainable Soil Management. The Code of Conduct will also be a valuable tool in meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set forth by the UN.
The Fertilizer Code of Conduct: Goals
The FAO defines several objectives in the Code of Conduct:
- Provide voluntary guidelines and best practices for those in the fertilizer industry.
- Foster collaboration and partnerships between those in the fertilizer and waste and recycling industries to promote ongoing development of sustainable and responsible practices.
- Encourage transparency and information exchange within the fertilizer industry.
- Decrease the impact of excess nutrients in every aspect through the promotion of safe nutrient recycling.
- Encourage the promotion and funding of sustainable agriculture advancements in private and public sectors.
- Aid other countries in the regulation of fertilizer quality.
- Reduce associated risks to humans and animals through improved fertilizer safety.
- Make knowledge on fertilizer more accessible.
- Encourage Integrated Soil Fertility Management (ISFM) through safe nutrient sources.
The FAO hopes the objectives will have the following outcomes:
- Bolstered global food production and food security, without sacrificing soil fertility and ecosystems.
- Minimized nutrient losses while meeting agricultural demands through the optimization of fertilizer use.
- Emphasized importance of fertilizers, particularly in areas currently not able to meet plant nutrient needs.
- Minimized environmental effects of fertilizer, such as soil and water pollution, ammonia volatilization, greenhouse gas emissions, and more, ultimately preserving ecosystems.
- Maximization of the economic and environmental benefits that sustainable fertilizer use can afford, including reducing the amount of additional land put into agricultural production, increasing carbon storage in soils, and promoting soil health.
- Prevention of nutrient losses to ground and surface waters.
- Elimination of harmful components added to fertilizers to avoid potential environmental effects.
- Maintained and enhanced food safety, nutritional value, diets, and human health.
- Increased nutrient recycling.
The Call for Efficient and Optimized Fertilizer Use
The Code goes on to detail recommendations for every aspect of fertilizer use and management. Not surprisingly, the Code emphasizes principles of 4R nutrient stewardship – that is, providing the right source of nutrients at the right time, in the right place and in the right amount based on site- and crop-specific considerations. The Code also calls for treatments that positively impact soil health in general, allowing nutrients to be used to their fullest capacity.
The Code is evidence of the critical role that high-quality, custom fertilizers and soil amendments are likely to play in the future. In the recent past, this might have been a challenge for fertilizer producers, but fortunately, fertilizer production equipment and technology have seen recent developments that have greatly influenced the capabilities available to producers.
Customizable Fertilizer and Soil Amendment Products
While traditional techniques are still employed, fertilizer production has been advanced in many ways.
There are now several types of fertilizer granulation systems, based on the material to be processed and the desired end product. Within each system, both equipment and process variables can be customized to zero-in on precise fertilizer granule properties. Each system also allows for easy inclusion of additives to produce custom formulations.
“Technology and data collection have evolved to the point that producers can create a product with the exact specifications they’re looking for in order to meet regional or site-specific nutrient demands,” comments fertilizer expert and FEECO Process Sales Engineer, Shane Le Capitaine.
Le Capitaine assists the industry’s largest players in process and product development efforts in the FEECO Innovation Center – a testing facility that uses batch and pilot testing to develop custom fertilizer and soil amendment products. “We can evaluate any type of granulation or pelletizing operation, with added capabilities in drying, cooling, and coating,” Le Capitaine says. “Combined with our expertise in fertilizer and soil amendment production and our state-of-the-art facility, our customers know they are going to get the answers they’re looking for through our testing programs.”
Facilities such as the FEECO Innovation Center will continue to grow in importance as the world moves toward more sustainable and efficient fertilizer use through optimized, efficient products.
Response From the Fertilizer Industry
Key players in the industry have publicly acknowledged their enthusiasm for the Code of Conduct:
The International Fertilizer Association (IFA) welcomed it with open arms, with IFA DG Charlotte Hebebrand stating:
“IFA and our members around the world, welcome the Code as a useful framework for nutrient stewardship, which is aligned with the commitments of the fertilizer industry, and we are pleased that several of the industry’s suggestions for improvements of the Code are reflected in the final document.”
The IFA plans to build on the progress made by the FAO with their own code of conduct targeted at helping industry players to implement the recommendations in a measurable way.
PhosAgro Group, a leading producer of phosphoric fertilizers, also applauded the Code in a public statement:
“PhosAgro, as a responsible producer whose products are used in more than 100 countries around the world, welcomes the approval of the regulations and the UN Code, and for its part is doing everything possible not only to produce fertilizers that are highly efficient and environmentally friendly, and that meet the most stringent safety standards for human health and the environment, but also to ensure continuous efforts to produce more advanced, high-quality product that meets the strictest requirements and facilitates crop cultivation.”
- – Irina Bokova, Chair of PhosAgro’s Committee for Sustainable Development and former UNESCO Director-General
“The Code of Conduct is necessary and timely,” Le Capitaine reflects. “It recognizes the dangers not just in overuse of fertilizers, but also in under use, which is often overshadowed by some of the negative effects seen from overuse.”
Conclusion
The FAO’s International Code of Conduct for the Sustainable Use and Management of Fertilizers is an important stepping stone in the effort to ensure future food security and nutrition, without sacrificing the world around us.
In business since 1951, FEECO is the global leader in custom fertilizer equipment and systems, process and product development, and parts and service support for the fertilizer industry. For more information on our custom fertilizer and soil amendment capabilities, contact us today!