| Grant number: | 17/04186-2 |
| Support Opportunities: | Scholarships abroad - Research |
| Start date: | October 01, 2017 |
| End date: | September 30, 2018 |
| Field of knowledge: | Agronomical Sciences - Agronomy - Soil Science |
| Principal Investigator: | Paulo Sergio Pavinato |
| Grantee: | Paulo Sergio Pavinato |
| Host Investigator: | Paul John Anthony Withers |
| Host Institution: | Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALQ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Piracicaba , SP, Brazil |
| Institution abroad: | Bangor University, Wales |
Abstract Global food production must increase substantially to meet the demands of a growing world population (9.5 billion) over 2050. Brazil has great potential for agricultural expansion for food production, with a capacity to cultivate 70 Mi hectares in addition to the 60 Mi hectares currently in crop production. Phosphorus (P) is an essential element for food and biofuel crop production, but Brazilian soils have a high capacity for P fixation, so this expansion will require large inputs of costly P fertilizers to overcome the rapid immobilization of inorganic P that occurs in highly weathered soils, rich in iron (Fe) and aluminum (Al) oxides. Alternative strategies are, therefore, necessary for sustainable farming production in Brazil to protect critical phosphate rock resources and reduce any eutrophication risk associated with P loss to watercourses. The integration of potential strategies to use legacy soil P, defined as the integrated adoption of technological advances in precision farming, crop rotation, plant breeding and microbial engineering, together with a greater reliance on targeted application of recovered and recycled P, can be explored to use this finite resource more successfully. In this proposal we aim to map the spatial distribution of P inputs/outputs in Brazilian crop and livestock areas over the last five decades, and estimate the future P fertilizer demand to 2050. The amount and value of the total legacy P exploitable in Brazilian soils will be estimated and, finally, the potential of mobilization of this P in ecosystem service provision and savings in Brazil's natural capital will be analyzed. The results from the project will be disseminated by means of publication of scientific articles in journals of high impact, and presentations at national and international scientific meetings. (AU) | |
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