Department of Plant Sciences

Manufactured fertilizers play a key role in intensive agriculture. Food production goals cannot be met without improved varieties, crop protection products, irrigation and fertilizers. Currently, it is estimated that nitrogen fertilizers help to feed 48 per cent of the world population (Erisman, et al., 2008). However, the number of hungry and malnourished people in the world has risen to 1 billion in 2009, the majority in the developing countries of Asia and the Pacific (FAO, 2009). It is also estimated that the need for food, particularly the three major cereals, will rise at a compound annual rate of 1.29 per cent from 1995 to 2025, based on the IMPACT model developed in 2002 by Rosegrant, et al. (Cassman, 2008). Increasing yields from existing farmland is the only sustainable option if we are to prevent further destruction of biodiversity and negative environmental impacts (in particular, CO2 emissions related to land use change). To meet these challenges, the importance of the role of plant nutrients and their efficient management cannot be overemphasized.