New Frontiers in Phosphate Fertilizers

摘要

Phosphorus is an essential plant nutrient and a desired level of food production in any country is not possible without adequate P fertilization. However, most of the P fertilizer in India is made from imported phosphate rock, which is a non-renewable source. Technologies are now available to extract P from municipal solid waste (MSW) and sewage sludge (SS) and these need to be tested under Indian conditions, so that partial P needs of the country can be met from these renewable P sources. Municipal solid waste and SS have to be treated anyway to prevent pollution of river waters; recovering P from them as a byproduct can partly meet the cost of treating MSW and SS and help the fertilizer industry. Further, P use efficiency by crops is generally 12-30% because the bulk of applied P gets fixed as insoluble products in the soil. Development and use of slow-release P fertilizers, nano P-fertilizers and foliar application of P with or without drones are new frontiers that deserve the attention of agronomists, soil scientists and fertilizer technologists alike.