Malawi

Phosphate-based fertilizers have helped spur agricultural gains in the past century, but the world may soon run out of them. Natasha Gilbert investigates the potential phosphate crisis.

The demand for biofuels has recently increased because of rising prices of fossil fuels and diversification of energy resources. As a result, the demand for sugarcane and corn has been increasing, not only for food production, but also as sources of energy.

Efficient management of nutrients constitutes one of the most important factors to achieve agronomic and environmental targets of intensive crop production systems. Agricultural intensification requires increased uptake of nutrients by crops. The depletion of nutrient reserves from the soil is often a hidden form of land degradation.

New fuel regulations based on life cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have focused renewed attention on life cycle models of biofuels. The BESS model estimates 25% lower life cycle GHG emissions for corn ethanol than does the well-known GREET model, which raises questions about which model is more accurate.