It’s elemental—N, P, K, secondary nutrients and micronutrients. But with annual fertilizer sales totaling $180 billion—that’s three times more than crop protection sales, three times more than seed sales and more than two times ag machinery sales—the fertilizer industry is also quite complex.

 

Those stats are courtesy of Charlotte Hebebrand, director general of the International Fertilizer Association (IFA). Hebebrand notes the area for growth in the fertilizer industry isn’t necessarily in the massive totals of products used but rather how products are used.

 

“The average uptake of fertilizers by crops is 50%,” she says. “Now, not all of that is lost to the environment and will be available to crops in future growing seasons, but a substantial part is. This is where the 4Rs come in. We really need to be thinking very carefully of plant nutrition as a knowledge-intensive practice.”

 

She says it will be an all-hands-on-deck effort to improve nutrient use. IFA released these five core findings with its strategic review, IFA2030.