USDA-CSREES

National Water Conference

6 February 2008
Sparks, NV

A Global Framework
Optimizes Fertilizer
Management Practices
for Water Quality
Tom Bruulsema, PhD, CCA
Director, Northeast Region, North America Program

Good afternoon and thank you for the introduction. On behalf of the
International Plant Nutrition Institute, I’m pleased to have the opportunity to
speak to you about a global framework of best management practices for
fertilizer use. We believe that a global framework gives an appropriate
perspective as to how changes in crop management practices may impact
water quality in particular, and society’s concerns for sustainability in
general.

A Global Framework Optimizes Fertilizer Management Practices for Water

Quality

A global framework describes how management practices contribute to

society's sustainability. Fertilizer use is known to impact water quality. At
the same time, it impacts several other facets of sustainability crucial to the
future of humanity. This paper describes a framework designed to relate
fertilizer best management practices (BMPs) to the goals of sustainable
development.

Sustainable development places equal emphasis on economic, social and

ecological aspects. Such development is essential to provide for the needs
of current and future generations. At the practical level, the three general
aspects translate into four management objectives applicable to all cropping
systems. These four inter-related objectives are productivity, profitability,
sustainability and environmental health (PPSE). 1
 IPNI Mission
“to develop and promote scientific information about responsible
plant nutrient management for the benefit of the human family.”

Our Institute is supported by primary producers of plant nutrients, and our mission is
to develop and promote scientific information about their management for the
benefit of the human family.

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 IPNI Working Group on
Fertilizer Use BMPs
Dr. Tom Bruulsema (Chair), Northeast North America Director
Dr. Christian Witt, Southeast Asia Director
Dr. Fernando Garcia, Latin America Southern Cone Director
Dr. Fang Chen, Southeast China Deputy Director
Dr. Shutian Li, Northwest China Deputy Director
Dr. Nagendra Rao, South India Deputy Director
Dr. Svetlana Ivanova, Eastern Europe and Central Asia Group Coordinator

The ideas in this presentation come from a working group of selected IPNI directors
from around the world, including Southeast Asia, Latin America, China, and Russia,
as well as North America. In fact, all of the staff of IPNI have had input into this
Global Framework.

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 Global framework ECONOMIC
for fertilizer
BMPs

Profitability

Rate
Source
Cropping system
Productivity Sustainability
Time Place

Biophysical and Social
Environment

ECOLOGICAL SOCIAL

The framework starts with the recognition that since the 1980s, it has been agreed
that economic, ecological and social aspects are important goals for sustainable
development on a global scale. At the practical scale of the crop producer,
however, there are four management objectives that contribute. These four are
illustrated by the diamond. Productivity, profitability, cropping system sustainability,
and environmental health are management objectives that are important to crop
producers worldwide. Management of fertilizer consists of applying the right source
at the right rate, time and place within the context of the management practices for
the cropping system. Management of fertilizer supports the same four objectives.

I will look at each of these four objectives in a little more detail, then discuss the
scientific principles that apply to the selection and adaptation of best management
practices.

Figure 1. A global framework for fertilizer best management practices (BMPs).

Fertilizers BMPs—applying the right source at the right rate, time and place—
integrate with agronomic BMPs that reflect crop management objectives of
productivity, profitability, sustainability, and environmental health. A balanced
complement of indicators is needed to reflect the influence of fertilizer BMPs on the
four crop management objectives, and in a broad sense on the economic, social
and ecological goals for sustainable development.

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 Productivity

• Yield – per unit area, per unit of time

• Quality
• Efficiency of all resources involved in
production

Productivity is yield per unit area of cropland per unit of time. Quality is part of the
productivity measure. Productivity should be considered in terms of all resources, or
production factors, involved. Efficiencies for each factor can be calculated, but
maximizing one at the expense of another does not improve productivity in total.

Productivity can influence the other three management objectives: profitability, by

increasing output per unit of input; environment, by producing more on less land
saving space for nature; and sustainability, through increased return of crop
residues to the soil from cropping systems with higher primary productivity.

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 Profitability
• Difference between value and cost of production
• Net profit per unit area per unit of time
• Agronomic efficiency, the increase in production in
response to amount applied, determines the profit impact
of each input

Profitability is determined by the difference between the value and the cost of
production. Its primary measure is net profit per unit of cropland per unit of time.
The profitability impact of a specific management practice is related to its agronomic
efficiency, the increase in production in response to the amount applied.

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 Cropping System Sustainability

• Influence of time on resources involved

• “outputs do not decrease when inputs are not increased”
(Monteith, 1990)
• Soil resource quality enhanced by productive crops
(primary productivity contribution to soil organic matter)

Rothamsted Research, 2006

Sustainability—at the level of the cropping system—refers to the influence of time

on the resources involved. A sustainable production system is one in which the
quality (or efficiency) of the resources used does not diminish over time, so that
“outputs do not decrease when inputs are not increased”.
As stated earlier, improvements in the net primary productivity of cropping systems
enhances the quality of the soil resource through increased inputs of organic matter.

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 Environmental Health

• Biophysical
– Material losses to water and air
– Controlled to varying degrees by
improved use efficiency
• Social
– Demand for labor
– Working conditions

Crop production systems have a wide range of effects on the surrounding

environment. Natural ecosystems can be affected by material losses to water and
air. Specific effects can be limited or controlled by practices designed to optimize
efficiency of resource use. However, not all effects are controlled to the same level.
Some environmentally important losses, like those of phosphorus (P) or nitrous
oxide, involve only a small fraction of the input applied.
Management choices at the farm level, when aggregated, also influence the social
environment through demand for labor, working conditions, etc.

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 Fertilizer Management Objectives

• Right source, rate, time & place

• Support all four management objectives:
– Productivity
– Profitability
– Sustainability
– Environment
• Interdependent, and interlinked with crop management
practices
• Based on scientific principles

Fertilizer management objectives are essentially to support the four objectives

identified for cropping systems management – productivity, profitability,
sustainability, and environmental health.
Fertilizer use BMPs can be aptly described as the application of the right source at
the right rate, time and place.
Source, rate, timing and placement are interdependent, and are also interlinked with
the set of agronomic management practices applied in the cropping system.
Scientific principles can be defined that apply universally to all management
practices for crops, to fertilizer in specific, and even more specifically to each of the
four “rights”: source, rate, timing, and placement.

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 Scientific Principles for Cropping
System BMPs
• Practical measured validation
• Recognition of risks
• Performance indicators
• Dynamic feedback from the practical level

Four major principles apply to all crop management practices, including fertilizer.
The first is practical measured validation.
Applied field testing should reflect effects on all four crop management
objectives (PPSE), with control for natural sources of variability through
replication and randomization, verified by peer-reviewed publication in
appropriate science literature.
The second principle is recognition of the need to adapt to risks. Weather, pests,
socioeconomic conditions have huge impacts on productivity, profitability,
sustainability and the environment. Production recipes and regulations that don’t
change year to year with these conditions fail to address the risks faced by
producers.
The third principle is the need to define performance indicators. Not all aspects of
PPSE can be measured. Within the social context, participatory processes need to
define balanced sets of key indicators.
And the fourth principle is to ensure two-way feedback between the global scale and
the practical farm level.
“BMPs are dynamic and evolve as science and technology expands our
understanding and opportunities. Practical experience teaches the astute
observer what does or does not work under specific local conditions” (Fixen,
2007).

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 Site Factors
Recommendation of
right source,
Crop
Decision Support rate, time, & place
Soil 
Grower
Nutrient inputs Crop demand
Water supply Soil supply Output Decision
Climate Soil losses
Weather Economics Action
Technology

Outcome
Feedback loop
Productivity
Profitability
Sustainability
After Fixen, 2007 Environmental

Dynamic process of local practical refinement.

Decision support guiding the adoption of fertilizer BMPs requires a dynamic

process of local refinement.
Involvement of individuals knowledgeable in both scientific principles and
local conditions is important to this process.
Palis et al. (2007) emphasized the importance of building on farmer
knowledge, experiential learning, and social capital for ensuring adoption of
fertilizer BMPs for small scale farmers in Asia.

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 Scientific Principles for Fertilizer
BMPs – General
• Consistent with understood process mechanisms.
• Recognizing interactions with other crop BMPs.
• Interdependence of nutrient source, rate, time and place.
• Avoid harm to plant health.
• Recognize influence on quality as well as quantity of
production.
• Consider economics.

IPNI’s working group identified six principles applying to Fertilizer BMPs in general.
a) Be consistent with understood process mechanisms.
Scientific disciplines of soil fertility, plant nutrition, soil chemistry, and others
have identified how nutrients behave in soil, how they influence crops at
various stages. This knowledge must be recognized.
b) Recognize interactions with other cropping system factors.
Cultivar, planting date, plant density, crop rotation, all affect crop response to
applied fertilizer nutrients.
c) Recognize interdependence of nutrient source, rate, time and place.
For example, a controlled-release source is appropriately applied with
different timing than a water-soluble source.
d) Avoid detrimental effects on plant roots, leaves and seedlings.
For example, amounts banded near seedlings need to be kept within safe
limits, recognizing ammonia and/or biuret content and overall salt index of
the source.
e) Recognize effects on crop quality as well as yield.
For example, nitrogen (N) influences protein as well as yield. Protein is an
important nutrient in animal and human nutrition, and influences bread-
making quality in wheat.
f) Consider economics.
Specific costs and potential returns for each practice.

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 Scientific Principles for Fertilizer
BMPs – Source
• Supply plant-available forms
• Suit soil physical and chemical characteristics
• Recognize:
– synergisms among nutrient elements and sources
– blend compatibility
– crop sensitivities to associated elements
• Control effects of non-nutritive elements

Going further, specific principles apply to fertilizer source.

a) Supply nutrients in plant-available forms (or forms that convert into a plant-
available form in the soil).
b) Suit soil physical and chemical properties -- Examples include avoiding nitrate
application to flooded soils, surface applications of urea on high pH soils, etc.
c) Recognize synergisms among nutrient elements and sources.
Examples include the P-zinc interaction, N increasing P availability, fertilizer
complementing manure, etc.
d) Recognize blend compatibility.
Certain combinations of sources attract moisture when mixed, limiting
uniformity of application of the blended material; granule size should be
similar to avoid product segregation, etc.
e) Recognize crop sensitivities to associated elements.
Most nutrients have an accompanying ion that may be beneficial, neutral or
detrimental to the crop. For example, the chloride accompanying potassium
in muriate of potash is beneficial to corn but can be detrimental to the quality
of tobacco and some fruits.
f) Control effects of non-nutritive elements.
For example, natural deposits of phosphate are enriched in several metals,
including cadmium. The level of addition of these elements should be kept
within acceptable thresholds.

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 Scientific Principles for Fertilizer
BMPs – Rate
• Assess:
– Soil nutrient supply
– All available nutrient sources
– Plant demand
• Predict fertilizer use efficiency
• Consider:
– Soil resource impacts
– Most economic rate: relation to mobility in soil

Specific principles applying to fertilizer rate include:

a) Assess soil nutrient supply.
Practices used may include soil and plant analysis, response experiments, etc.
b) Assess all available nutrient sources.
Includes quantity and plant availability of nutrients in manure, composts, biosolids, and
irrigation water, as well as commercial fertilizers.
c) Assess plant demand.
The quantity of nutrient taken up in one season depends on crop yield and nutrient content.
Accurate assessment of attainable yield and its variability within fields and season to season
is important.
d) Predict fertilizer use efficiency.
Some loss is unavoidable, so to meet plant demand, the amount must be considered.
e) Consider soil resource impacts.
If the output of nutrients from a cropping system exceeds inputs, soil fertility declines in the
long term.
f) Consider rate-specific economics.
For nutrients unlikely to be retained in the soil, the most economic rate of application is
where the last unit of nutrient applied is equal in value to the increase in crop yield it
generates (law of diminishing returns).
For nutrients retained in the soil, their value to future crops should be considered. Assess
probabilities of predicting economically optimum rates and the effect on net returns arising
from error in prediction.

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 Scientific Principles for Fertilizer
BMPs – Timing
• Match timing of crop uptake
• Assess dynamics of soil nutrient supply
• Recognize timing of weather factors influencing nutrient
loss.
• Evaluate logistics of field operations.

Specific principles applying to Fertilizer Timing include:

a) Assess timing of crop uptake.
Depends on planting date, plant growth characteristics, sensitivity to
deficiencies at particular growth stages, etc.
b) Assess dynamics of soil nutrient supply.
Mineralization of soil organic matter supplies a large quantity of some
nutrients, but if the crop’s uptake need precedes its release, deficiencies may
limit productivity.
c) Recognize timing of weather factors influencing nutrient loss.
For example, in temperate regions, leaching losses tend to be more frequent
in the spring and fall.
d) Evaluate logistics of field operations.
For example, multiple applications of nutrients may or may not combine with
those of crop protection products.
Nutrient applications should not delay time-sensitive operations such as
planting.

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 Scientific Principles for Fertilizer
BMPs – Placement
• Recognize root-soil dynamics
• Manage spatial variability within fields and among farms
• Fit needs of tillage system
• Limit potential off-field transport of nutrients.

And finally, specific principles of fertilizer placement:

a) Recognize root-soil dynamics.
Roots of annual crops explore soil progressively over the season. Placement
needs to ensure nutrients are intercepted as needed. An example is the band
placement of P fertilizer for corn, ensuring sufficient nutrition of the young
seedling, increasing yields substantially even though amounts applied and
taken up are small.
b) Manage spatial variability within fields and among farms.
Soils vary in nutrient supplying capacity and nutrient loss potential.
c) Fit needs of tillage system.
Recognize logistics of soil preparation.
Ensure subsurface applications maintain soil coverage by crop residue.
d) Limit potential off-field transport of nutrients.
Identify fields and field areas most prone to surface runoff or drainage
discharge.
Keep nutrient losses in surface runoff and drainage water within acceptable
limits.

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 Application of Principles to
Management
• Large number of potentially applicable principles
• Involvement of qualified advisers
• Need for education

The number of scientific principles applicable to a given practical situation is

considerable. Narrowing down to a practical set requires the involvement of
individuals who are qualified to deal with these principles and knowledgeable in
implementation. Producers and advisers need education on BMPs and their
underlying scientific principles.

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 Performance ECONOMIC
Indicators
Net profit
Resource use Nutrient
efficiencies:   Water Return on investment
Energy Profitability
Adoption
Labor
Soil productivity
Quality Rate
Source
Cropping system
Yield Productivity Yield 
Time Sustainability stability
Place

Nutrient balance
Water & air quality
Nutrient loss
Biophysical and Social
Soil erosion Environment Farm income
Biodiversity Working conditions

ECOLOGICAL SOCIAL

Many performance indicators can be defined, and are being used. In practical
settings however it usually possible to measure only a few. The point of this
framework, however, is that each indicator reflects performance in only one or two
of the four management objectives. Evaluating real progress depends on the choice
of a balanced set of indicators, so that impacts on all four -- productivity, profitability,
sustainability and environmental health -- are all reflected equitably.

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 Implications for Water Quality

Role
Role of
of Fertilizer
Fertilizer Use
Use BMPs
BMPs
•• Multiple
Multiple Objectives
Objectives –– PPSE
PPSE
•• Interdependent
Interdependent BMPs
BMPs
•• Simple
Simple changes
changes lead
lead to
to
complex
complex effects
effects

So to summarize, what are the implications of a Global Framework for Best

Management Practices for the improvement of water quality?
First, all cropping systems have multiple objectives and an improvement in one can
affect the others.
Second, management practices are interdependent, and forcing a change in one
management practice will lead to changes in others that need to be considered.
Finally, simple changes lead to complex effects, especially on long-term
sustainability and on the social structures associated with cropping systems.
The industry anticipates that further development of this framework will help guide
decisions pertaining to the management of plant nutrients which are indeed “for
the benefit of the human family”.

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 Thank You

References
Brundtland, G.H. 1987. Our Common Future. Report of the World Commission on
Environment and Development. http://ringofpeace.org/environment/brundtland.html
(accessed 7 Sept. 2007).
Dobermann, A. 2007. Nutrient Use Efficiency – Measurement and Management.
IFA International Workshop on Fertilizer Best Management Practices (FBMPs),
Brussels, Belgium, March 7-9, 2007.
Fixen, P.E. 2007. Can We Define a Global Framework within which Fertilizer BMPs
can be Adapted to Local Conditions? IFA International Workshop on Fertilizer Best
Management Practices (FBMPs), Brussels, Belgium, March 7-9, 2007.
Monteith, J.L. 1990. Can sustainability be quantified? Indian J. Dryland Agric. Res.
and Dev. 5:1-5.
Palis, F.G., R.J. Buresh, G.R. Singleton and R.J. Flor. 2007. Adoption of fertilizer
best management
practices: the need for a sociological approach. IFA International Workshop on
Fertilizer Best Management Practices (FBMPs), Brussels, Belgium, March 7-9,
2007.
Snyder, C.S. and T.W. Bruulsema. 2007. Nutrient Use Efficiency and Effectiveness
in North America: Indices of Agronomic and Environmental Benefit. 4pp.
International Plant Nutrition Institute. June 2007. Reference # 07076.
(http://www.ipni.net/ipniweb/portal.nsf/0/D58A3C2DECA9D7378525731E006066D5)

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