| This Special Issue is the outcome of a workshop that examined the case for a new and more sustainable approach to phosphorus (P) management on Australian farms. Soluble phosphate fertilisers have been a cornerstone of agricultural development because of the inherently low P status of most soils in southern Australia. P fertiliser application in Australia peaked 10 years ago and since then has averaged 460 kt of P/year The annual cost of P fertiliser to Australian farmers in 2007 was around AU$1.4 billion, and rising steeply. P is a major part of production costs for most farmers
The economic and environmental pressures to reduce soluble P inputs are opposed by rising ‘critical’ soil P concentrations and fertiliser rates needed for maximum productivity as other constraints to growth are removed and yield potential increases. As soil P concentrations rise to meet P demand, so do the environmental risks.
In order to determine where significant advances could be made, i.e. by reducing inputs of soluble fertiliser P and/or by making better use of the bank of soil P or non-traditional sources of P, the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation sponsored a workshop for Australia’s leading researchers on soil and plant P and organic systems, who provided reviews of their subject areas, together with leading organic and low-input farmers who provided farm case studies. The workshop proceedings are published along with one additional paper in this Special Issue of Crop & Pasture Science.
The workshop identified promising areas of research offering significant benefits to farmers who need to cease or reduce further inputs of soluble P fertiliser. These include farmers for whom cost reduction is an imperative, organic farmers, and farmers with a high potential environmental P risk, such as dairy farmers and intensive vegetable producers.
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