Agricultural Productivity, Sustainability, and Fertilizer Use

摘要

Despite its possible detrimental effects on the environment, fertilizer remainsindispensable to sustainable agricultural production, according to the report. Part one of the report defines terms that are frequently used in current debates over whether or not to use fertilizer (defined for the purposes of the article as commercial industrial fertilizer). It then goes on to review the reasons for fertilizer use, discussing the relative scarcity of the earth's fertile land resources, the interaction of fertilizers with the basic components of soil productivity, problems involved in sustaining soil fertility, the evolution of fertilizer use, and the relationship between fertilizer use and crop production. It is concluded that the elimination or even the reduction of fertilizer use in developing countries would result not only in the starvation and malnutrition of millions, but also in the increased degradation of the environment through deforestation, soil erosion, and desertification.