Scarcity of Phosphorus

Phosphorus is as important to plants as water. But a lack of availability and accessibility of phosphorus is an emerging global problem. Like nitrogen and potassium, it is a nutrient that plants take up from the soil and it is crucial to soil fertility and crop growth. The demand for phosphorus has increased and prices soared by 800 percent between 2006 and 2008.

?EUR??,,????'??Unless something is done, the scarcity of phosphorous will cause problems of a global dimension. As early as 2035 it is calculated that the demand for phosphorus may outpace the supply,?EUR??,,????'?? says Dana Cordell, who presented her thesis at the Department of Thematic Studies?EUR??,,????'??+Water and Environmental Studies, Link??ping University, Sweden on the implications of phosphorus scarcity on global food security. Phosphorous is extracted from phosphate rock, a non-renewable resource that is used almost exclusively in agriculture. Two thirds of the world?EUR??,,????'???s resources are in China, Morocco, and Western Sahara.

Cordell maintains that the shortage of phosphorus is not simply due to a drop in the availability of phosphate ore. Many of the world?EUR??,,????'???s farmers do not have enough purchasing power to be able to afford and use phosphorus-based fertilizer, which means their soil is becoming depleted. What?EUR??,,????'???s more, phosphorus use in the food system from mine to field to fork is currently so inefficient that only one fifth of the phosphorus in the rock that is mined actually makes its way into our food.