The Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR) has announced $9.3 million in funding through its Efficient Fertilizer Consortium for research into more efficient nutrient use, CropLife Fertilizer reported. Allocated across 12 grants, the investment will support work intended to give farmers practical evidence on fertiliser performance in a range of agricultural systems.
The funded projects involve universities, government research organisations and industry partners. They will examine potential approaches to improving fertiliser efficiency across different soils, crops and growing conditions. According to the report, the programme is designed to produce reliable information that farmers can use when choosing products and management practices, rather than treating performance under one set of conditions as applicable everywhere.
A focus of the research is the use of enhanced-efficiency nitrogen and phosphorus fertilisers in combination with other farm management measures. These include cover cropping and practices guided by nutrient stewardship principles. The consortium aims to help growers assess alternative products and tools while dealing with uncertainty over weather, market prices and product availability. Productivity and profitability are stated objectives of the work, not demonstrated outcomes of the newly announced funding.
All projects receiving consortium funding must comply with its Field Trial Guidelines for Evaluating Enhanced Efficiency Fertilizers. CropLife Fertilizer said the guidelines were developed with input from academic, government, industry and commodity-group specialists. The requirement is intended to strengthen scientific rigour and consistency across trials, supporting confidence in the findings among the farmers and other end users who may apply them.
FFAR scientific programme manager Dr Sarah Lyons said growers need evidence grounded in conditions relevant to their own farming practices to inform management decisions. Cotton Incorporated is among the organisations supporting the consortium’s work and the practical relevance of its guidelines. Its vice president and chief sustainability officer, Dr Jesse Daystar, described fertiliser efficiency as a research priority linked to grower profitability and environmental stewardship, with the organisation’s participation supporting science intended to benefit US cotton producers.