Enabling food security through use of local rocks and minerals

Flashcards about enabling food security through the utilization of local rocks and minerals in agriculture.

What is a major challenge in many developing countries regarding crop production?

Replacing nutrients needed for subsistence and cash crops due to cost and complex supply chains.

What do nutrient audits reveal about soil nutrients?

Major nutrients are being removed from soils faster than they are being replenished, which is unsustainable.

What agricultural practice predates the use of chemical fertilizers?

Using crushed silicate rocks as a source of plant nutrients.

Why are highly soluble fertilizers not ideal for deeply leached oxisols?

They are rapidly leached from the soil.

What is the potential of crushed silicate rocks in soils like oxisols?

To maintain soil health and support crop production.

What does Brazilian federal law allow regarding crushed rock?

It allows the use of crushed rock remineralizers for crop nutrition, with defined specifications.

What opportunities does the Brazilian model offer to developing countries?

To exploit local geological sources and reduce dependency on imported chemical fertilizers.

What is the expected global population by 2050, making food production fundamental?

Exceeding 9 billion people.

What happens when crops are removed from the soil?

Nutrients derived from geological minerals are removed and need to be replaced.

What threatens livelihoods and biodiversity when soils lose their ability to produce crops?

Lack of careful husbandry.

What term is given to minerals and materials that are mined, processed, manufactured and used domestically?

Development Minerals

What do soil nutrient audits consider?

The balance between inputs and outputs on a regional scale.

Which nutrient did Sheldrick et al. (2002) find to be more deficient compared to N and P?

Potassium (K)

What raw material is used in the Haber-Bosch process for N fertilizer production?

Methane

What does a constant fertilizer price indicate?

A control that is independent of the price of oil.

What are the approximate annual global consumption values per capita for N, P, and K?

N: 13-16 kg, P (as P2O5): 6 kg, K (as K2O): 4-5 kg

Which regions consistently show the least fertilizer consumption?

Africa (N,P,K), East Asia (N), West Asia (P,K), and South Asia (K).

Why is fertilizer consumption very high in South America, especially Brazil?

Because the major countries in the region are considered agro-exporting countries.

According to Quisumbing and Pandolfelli (2010) what critical factors limit fertilizer application?

Lack of access to credit and cash, not the sex of the farmer

What is the primary goal for farmers at the bottom of the economic ladder?

To produce crops first for subsistence and then for trade.