New investments in phosphorus research and training are paramount for Brazilian long-term environmental and food security

Henrique Rasera Raniro (), Jéssica Papera, Lucas Urbano José, Rodrigo Maia Valença, Paulo Sergio Pavinato, Ludwig Hermann and Jakob Santner
Additional contact information
Henrique Rasera Raniro: University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna
Jéssica Papera: Wetsus
Lucas Urbano José: University of Southern Denmark
Rodrigo Maia Valença: Aalborg University
Paulo Sergio Pavinato: University of São Paulo
Ludwig Hermann: Proman Management GmbH
Jakob Santner: University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna

Environment Systems and Decisions, 2023, vol. 43, issue 3, 504-508

Abstract: Abstract Brazil is an agricultural giant that plays a crucial role in the Global Phosphorus Challenge (GPC), and whose highly weathered soils are currently dependent on phosphorus (P) fertilizers derived from phosphate rock, a dwindling and critical resource. Brazil imports > 50% of its P fertilizers and P recovery from waste is not yet explored in the country, making it vulnerable to market instabilities, phosphate rock availability, and geopolitical conflicts. To make matters worse, Brazilian research budget has been shrinking for 7 years straight, hindering scientific efforts and causing significant ‘brain drain’, further undermining the country’s capacity to tackle this critical problem. However, an opportunity comes with the new Brazilian Federal government (starting January 2023), which promises to make significant investments in science and higher education. We call for all stakeholders to seize this important moment and timely collaborate in creating multidisciplinary P-related projects, taking advantage of the soon-to-be available resources to develop knowledge, technologies, and training networks to shape a new generation of experts in P management in the tropics. We are confident that through agriculture intensification, intelligent use of resources, new legislation and governance, Brazil will stride towards sustainable food production, bringing immediate value to Brazil and the world by protecting the Amazon forest and advancing to overcome the GPC.

Keywords: Brazil; Investments; Phosphorus; Research; Sustainability; Training (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10669-023-09903-4 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:envsyd:v:43:y:2023:i:3:d:10.1007_s10669-023-09903-4

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.springer.com/journal/10669

DOI: 10.1007/s10669-023-09903-4

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Environment Systems and Decisions from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().