Phosphorus is essential in agriculture to maintain higher production levels, where it is applied as a fertilizer. Some world regions are experiencing high population growth rates, which means more phosphorus will be needed to produce an increasing amount of food needed in the next decades. A new study—”Global phosphorus supply chain dynamics: Assessing regional impact to 2050″—published in the scientific journal Global Food Security, that was undertaken at Stockholm University, Sweden, University of Iceland, Iceland, and the Blekinge Institute of Technology, Sweden, shows that the world regions with high population growth rates are also the regions with the highest deficit in phosphorus supply. The study also quantifies the environmental impact of a business-as-usual scenario in the phosphorus supply chain to 2050 and identifies alarming rates of pollution and greenhouse gas emissions associated with the phosphorus supply.
Click here for original story, Phosphorus deficit may disrupt regional food supply chains
Source: Phys.org