Amid all the turbulence generated by the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, it was revealed how much Brazilian agriculture depends on the use of fertilizers and, above all, how much fertilizer is a fundamental input for food production. As a result, the topic of fertilizer became a protagonist in the media, as well as being a topic in several lives. Fertilizer has always been mistakenly considered a toxic product, often confused with pesticides, and now takes its real position as providing nutrients for plants, that is, plant food.
Brazil is a country with an agricultural vocation, where the sector has constantly broken production records. It is worth remembering that Brazil is among the world's largest producers of soybeans, corn, cotton, sugar cane, coffee, oranges, rice, cocoa, among other crops. Furthermore, it has the largest cattle herd in the world and is the largest exporter of this meat. We also cannot forget that our country is one of the world leaders in chicken and pork production. Here, we need to remember that fertilizer is one of the main inputs contributing to Brazilian agricultural success.
Our nation has become a major global agricultural power using an area of approximately 8% of its territory. With this small portion, Brazilian agricultural production is responsible for feeding the equivalent of 800 million people. In other words, we can say that Brazil is certainly the “breadbasket of the planet”, contributing significantly to the food security of a growing world population. This is how fertilizer became the main innovation that saved the most lives in human history.
The reality is that, while our agriculture is thriving, it is dependent on the use of fertilizers. Due to the characteristics of our soils, which are naturally poor in nutrients, the application of fertilizers through fertilization is an essential necessity. Currently, Brazil imports 85% of its fertilizer consumption, mainly nitrogen, phosphate and potassium, which provide nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, respectively. Of these nutrients, potassium is the one with the greatest dependence on imports, accounting for more than 90% of its consumption. Recent data show that, in relation to world potassium production, our country produces 0,8%, but consumes approximately 15% of world production.
Analyzing the importance of fertilizers worldwide, it appears that the application of nitrogen, phosphorus and other nutrients used to promote the growth of plants and animals has brought enormous benefits to energy production and, above all, to feeding the world population. Estimates show that fertilizers help half of the 7 billion human beings to feed themselves and ensure food security in the XNUMXst century.
The reality of this current crisis shows the dependence of traditional agriculture on mineral fertilizers, which are directly responsible for the increase in crop yields. Substitution alternatives are currently being launched, particularly organic fertilizers, but in the short term, it is difficult to replace mineral fertilizers with organic ones, mainly due to the lower levels of organic fertilizer and the efficiency is not satisfactory.
On the other hand, Brazil seeks to increase fertilizer production and reduce dependence on imports. With the implementation of the National Fertilizer Plan (PNF), the objective is, by 2050, to reduce imports from the current 85% to 45%. The PNF introduced new tax rules for fertilizers while seeking to help private companies increase production capacity. It was designed to reinforce the competitiveness of production and distribution of fertilizers in Brazil in a sustainable way.
The war between Russia and Ukraine brought a major crisis in the fertilizer sector, which created great insecurity for agricultural producers due to the risk of fertilizer shortages. Reduced fertilizer use means lower yields and therefore lower production volume. Likewise, it interferes with the nutritional quality of food. Parallel to the events and the crisis, the population can learn about the importance that fertilizers represent for the production of their food, that is, from their breakfast to their dinner, fertilizer has its participation and responsibility.
By Valter Casarin, NPV Scientific Coordinator
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