Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
TABLE 1.1
Use of N, P, and K (10
6
Tons) in Various Regions of the World
Nitrogen
Phosphorus
Potassium
Region
2000
2010
2000
2010
2000
2010
Africa
2.46
3.01
0.41
0.50
0.39
0.32
Eastern
0.33
0.58
0.11
0.14
0.07
0.07
Middle
0.03
0.02
0.00
0.00
0.02
0.01
Northern
1.45
1.72
0.16
0.23
0.10
0.06
Southern
0.43
0.39
0.08
0.07
0.12
0.09
Western
0.22
0.29
0.05
0.06
0.09
0.08
America
17.19
20.86
3.55
4.18
6.83
7.99
Northern
12.03
13.47
1.94
1.97
3.97
3.80
Central
1.75
1.56
0.19
0.13
0.28
0.27
Southern
3.25
5.65
1.40
2.06
2.51
3.88
Caribbean
0.17
0.18
0.03
0.02
0.07
0.03
Asia
46.72
67.03
7.73
13.02
6.52
10.48
Central
0.76
0.83
0.06
0.06
0.02
0.02
Eastern
23.21
35.75
4.11
7.65
3.40
4.79
Southern
15.26
21.34
2.45
4.20
1.53
3.27
Western
2.28
1.99
0.46
0.32
0.14
0.12
South Eastern
5.22
7.12
0.66
0.79
1.43
2.28
Europe
13.21
13.47
1.79
1.57
3.97
3.51
Northern
2.35
2.22
0.25
0.21
0.69
0.53
Southern
2.69
2.03
0.59
0.38
0.91
0.66
Eastern
3.54
5.00
0.39
0.69
0.94
1.51
Western
4.63
4.21
0.55
0.28
1.43
0.81
Oceania
1.19
1.51
0.69
0.58
0.29
0.20
World
80.79
105.89
14.17
19.86
18.00
22.50
Source:
Adapted from FAO (Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations). 2013. Statistical
database. FAO, Rome, Italy. Available at http://faostat.fao.org/Rome.
et al., 2011a), potato (
Solanum tuberosum
L.) (Hutchinson et al., 2003), dry bean (
Phaseolus vul-
garis
L.) (Fageria, 2002), wheat (
Triticum aestivum
L.) (Fowler, 2003; López-Bellido et al., 2003),
maize (
Zea mays
L.) (Cerrato and Blackmer, 1990; Kaizzi et al., 2012a), cassava (
Manihot escu-
lenta
Crantz.) (Nguyen et al., 2002), faba bean (
Vicia faba
L.) (López-Bellido et al., 2003), cotton
(
Gossypium hirsutum
L.) (Chua et al. (2003), sorghum (
Sorghum bicolor
L. Moench), (Kaizzi
et al., 2012b), canola (
Brassica napus
L.) (Jackson, 2000; Vasilakoglou et al., 2012), and pearl
millet (
Pennisetum glaucum
L. R. Br.) (Maman et al., 1999; Pandey et al., 2001) to N fertilization
reported in various regions of the world.
Fertilizers account for almost half of the energy used in world agriculture, and the manufacture
of N fertilizer is about 10 times more energy intensive than that of P and K fertilizers (Evans, 1993;
Hasegawa, 2003). A survey of nutrient use in the United States indicated that N fertilizer from
commercial sources was applied to 97% of the area planted with maize (Bausch and Diker, 2001).
Biermacher et al. (2012) reported that according to the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service, N
fertilizer typically accounts for up to 30% of the total production cost in the region. These authors
also reported that over the past several years, prices for synthetic sources of N have trended increas-
ingly higher. In fact, the price of N fertilizer increased by 120% between 2000 and 2007 in the
United States (USDA, 2009). However, Economic Research Service (2010) reported that, in the
United States alone, N fertilizer prices have more than doubled since 1990, reaching historic highs
