Fertilisers exposed as economically and environmentally unsustainable          

As oil and gas prices rise, so does the price of artificial chemical fertilisers - the lynch-pin of industrial agriculture’s claims to be ‘efficient’. 

Just this week (18 June 2008) Bloomberg reported that costs at Syngenta are expected to rise by $30 million to $50 million this year. Syngenta raised prices 3 percent in the first quarter, joining global chemical makers seeking to preserve margins. They look ready to add more serious price hikes. Apparently Dow Chemical plans increases of as much as 20 percent for all its products. 

In the UK, the price of nitrogen fertiliser has doubled over the past year to around £330 per tonne. With oil currently at over $130 a barrel and with OPEC warning it could reach $200 by the end of the year, it has been suggested that fertilisers could hit £500 a tonne. At these prices, the usual system for fossil-fuel and fertiliser dependent industrial farming begins to collapse.

Last week Peter Kendall, President of the NFU said, "Conventional farmers will have to think harder about rotations as ways of reducing fertiliser and pesticide input."

Robin Maynard, campaigns director at the Soil Association said,
"Rising oil and gas prices and the imperative of cutting greenhouse gases by 60-80% across all sectors expose industrial agriculture’s dependency on artificial fertilisers as both economically and environmentally unsustainable. Farmers here in the UK, and in the developing world, would do better for themselves and the planet by shifting to sustainable organic farming."

• The manufacture of nitrogen fertiliser is the main use of energy in agriculture; accounting for 37% of total energy use.

• Each tonne of fertiliser made, gives off 6.7 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent greenhouse gases

• Fertiliser manufacture is also a major user of water, consuming 37 tonnes of water to make 1 tonne of nitrogen fertiliser.

Organic farming does not use artificial chemical fertilisers, instead building soil fertility through crop rotations and particularly the use of clover to fix nitrogen naturally from the atmosphere using the Sun’s energy and photosynthesis. 

Contrary to the claims of the agrochemical and GM lobby, many farmers in developing countries are increasing their yields and building fertility without expensive, environmentally damaging artificial fertilisers. Farmers in Ethiopia have achieved 5-fold increases in yields by supplementing traditional methods with modern organic techniques, such as composting.

Dr Tewolde Berhan Egziabher, Head of the Ethiopian Environment Agency said,
"In a harsh climate and a largely agricultural economy we need to rediscover an approach to agriculture which supports long-term food security and protects soil fertility. Organic farming is the way forward for Ethiopia, and it is also an approach which can help to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions caused by mechanised farming and the petrochemical inputs in richer countries."

Commenting on the research, Alexander Mueller, assistant director-general of the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation said, "considering climate change will target the world’s poor and most vulnerable, a shift to organic agriculture could be beneficial."