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New research shows 50 year binge on chemical fertilisers must end to address the climate crisis

http://grain.org/e/6761

Publisher:  GRAIN
Date Written:  01/11/2021
Year Published:  2021  
Resource Type:  Article

New research shows that synthetic nitrogen fertilisers are a major driver of the climate crisis, responsible for 1 out every 40 tonnes of GHGs currently pumped into the atmosphere. Now is the time for the world to kick its addiction to synthetic nitrogen fertilisers and urgently transition to farming without fossil fuels and chemicals.

Abstract: 
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Excerpt:

Since the 1960s, there has been a concerted effort on the part of the multilateral development banks such as the World Bank, governments, donors and agribusiness corporations to support the widespread adoption of a so-called "green revolution" model of agriculture. This model is based on the development and adoption of varieties of certain staple crops (mainly wheat, rice and maize) that are short and stocky (called semi-dwarf) and capable of producing high yields when heavily dosed with chemical fertilisers and sprayed with pesticides.

By way of massive government programmes and subsidies, the green revolution varieties quickly replaced local varieties and generated a huge boom in the global use of chemical fertilisers. They also kicked in a vicious cycle, in which more and more chemical fertilisers had to be applied to sustain yields. Today, only around 20-30% of the synthetic N fertilisers applied to fields are converted to foods, with the rest running off into water bodies and entering the environment as pollution.[5] Not only is this heating up the planet, but it is also destroying the ozone layer and causing a global crisis of algae blooms and oceanic “dead zones".

Some say the green revolution enabled production to meet the increasing global demand for food, but the narrow focus on a small number of crops and on varieties dependent on chemical inputs caused numerous environmental and social problems. It also distracted from other approaches that could have increased food production without generating the massive consumption of chemical fertilisers.

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