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Next-generation enhanced-efficiency fertilizers for sustained food security

Nature Food volume 3, pages 575–580 (2022)Cite this article

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Abstract

Nitrogen losses in agricultural systems can be reduced through enhanced-efficiency fertilizers (EEFs), which control the physicochemical release from fertilizers and biological nitrogen transformations in soils. The adoption of EEFs by farmers requires evidence of consistent performance across soils, crops and climates, paired with information on the economic advantages. Here we show that the benefits of EEFs due to avoided social costs of nitrogen pollution considerably outweigh their costs—and must be incorporated in fertilizer policies. We outline new approaches to the design of EEFs using enzyme inhibitors with modifiable chemical structures and engineered, biodegradable coatings that respond to plant rhizosphere signalling molecules.

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Fig. 1: The potential of EEFs to reduce N losses from food production systems.
Fig. 2: Current and next-generation chemical inhibitors.
Fig. 3: Proposed scenarios that harness plant signals for designing new fertilizer coatings.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Australian Research Council through the Industrial Transformation Research Hub (grant number IH200100023) and Linkage (grant number LP160101417) Schemes.

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Author notes

  1. Ute Roessner

    Present address: Research School of Biology, The Australian National University, Acton, Australian Capital Territory, Australia

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Agriculture and Food, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia

    Shu Kee Lam, Hang-Wei Hu, Xia Liang, Baobao Pan, Bill Malcolm, Helen Suter, Ji-Zheng He & Deli Chen

  2. ARC Research Hub for Smart Fertilisers, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia

    Shu Kee Lam, Uta Wille, Hang-Wei Hu, Frank Caruso, Kathryn Mumford, Xia Liang, Baobao Pan, Bill Malcolm, Ute Roessner, Helen Suter, Geoff Stevens, Charlie Walker, Caixian Tang, Ji-Zheng He & Deli Chen

  3. School of Chemistry, Bio21 Institute, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia

    Uta Wille

  4. Department of Chemical Engineering, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia

    Frank Caruso, Kathryn Mumford & Geoff Stevens

  5. School of BioSciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia

    Ute Roessner

  6. Incitec Pivot Fertilisers, North Shore, Victoria, Australia

    Charlie Walker

  7. School of Agriculture, Biomedicine and Environment, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia

    Caixian Tang

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Contributions

S.K.L. and D.C. designed the study. S.K.L., U.W., H.-W.H., F.C., K.M., X.L. and B.M. wrote the first draft and all authors contributed to discussions and revisions of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Deli Chen.

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Nature Food thanks Pamela Matson and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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This Supplementary Information document includes Supplementary Figs. 1–3 that show the variation in the performance of EEFs with soil texture, climate zone and crop species.

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Lam, S.K., Wille, U., Hu, HW. et al. Next-generation enhanced-efficiency fertilizers for sustained food security. Nat Food 3, 575–580 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-022-00542-7

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