Fertilizers: essential for the sustainability of agriculture

The new content of the Brazilian Platform for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (BPBES) is an invaluable contribution to the systemic advancement of the already developed Brazilian agribusiness. In a very clear and emphatic manner, it demonstrates how the sector depends on biodiversity and, at the same time, benefits from it. It also highlights the importance of some elements for its continued strengthening, in harmony with ecological precepts, such as clean water, climate regulation, crop pollination, biological control of pests and diseases, and the maintenance of soil fertility and structure. 

The publication, entitled Summary for Decision-Makers of the Thematic Report on Agriculture, Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, addresses the challenges associated with the predominant land use model in the country and the solutions to make agriculture a more sustainable and inclusive practice. The report was coordinated by Rachel Bardy Prado, a researcher at Embrapa Solos (RJ), and Gerhard Overbeck, a professor at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS). 

The scientist emphasizes that the scarcity of natural resources in some parts of Brazil and the effects on the climate put the abundance of national agriculture at risk. She also warns that the main food value chains are susceptible to climate change and that certain regions may experience drops in productivity and changes in the suitability for certain crops. 

In this context, we believe that fertilizers play a fundamental role, noting that they have been essential factors in the significant productivity gains already achieved by Brazilian agriculture. They are undoubtedly part of the entire development process of national agriculture, driven by the high work capacity of the sector's entrepreneurs, the women and men of the countryside. 

To avoid the risk of a drop in productivity in certain areas and crops, as indicated by the researcher, the appropriate use of fertilizers is essential, considering that their basic function is to increase soil fertility. To this end, they contain the elements necessary to enrich the soil: mineral and organic compounds with nutrients for plant development. 

Fertilizers also play important economic and ecological roles, in line with the demands highlighted in the new BPBES publication. After all, they contribute to improving crop production and financial returns, enable the saving of environmental resources by enriching the soil, and provide quality gains to food and agricultural commodities. 

According to Embrapa, correct fertilization has direct effects on crop establishment, productivity and greater soil protection against erosion agents. It also helps control soil acidity and replenish nutrients, in addition to influencing carbon sequestration rates, since the soil, as experts explain, is the main carbon reservoir in an ecosystem. 

The fertilizer sector, recognizing the importance of this input for Brazil, has been working to ensure market supply, despite the difficulties inherent in the global geopolitical scenario, with wars affecting nations that supply mineral fertilizers and hindering the logistics of international trade chains. It is worth remembering that 85% of national consumption is imported. 

Thus, despite the guarantee of supply that prevails to date, the country needs to increasingly maintain and implement the National Fertilizer Plan, aiming to increase domestic production and improve infrastructure, logistics and customs clearance for imports. After all, we are talking about a product that is crucial for Brazilian agriculture to become increasingly economically viable, socially fair and environmentally correct, fully meeting the precepts of sustainability.

*Per Ricardo Tortorella, economist, is executive director of the National Fertilizer Distribution Association (Anda)