FFAR invests $9.3M in 12 grants to boost fertilizer efficiency

The Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research awarded $9.3M across 12 grants through its Efficient Fertilizer Consortium, funding research aimed at improving how effectively nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers reach crops, FFAR said. The awards bring together universities, government research organizations and industry partners to test fertilizer solutions across a range of soils, cropping systems and growing conditions.

Grant recipients include Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada researcher Benjamin Ellert, who received $999,984 to determine how effectively nitrogen from applied fertilizer moves into the crop; the University of Copenhagen’s Sander Bruun, awarded $1.67M to study how enhanced-efficiency fertilizers and cover crops together improve nitrogen use in Europe and North America; and Israel’s Volcani Institute, which received $999,969 to assess nitrogen and phosphorus technologies for irrigated dryland crop rotations. A separate $316,635 grant funds research into how fertilizer placement, conservation tillage and cover crops affect agronomic, environmental and microbial outcomes.

According to FFAR scientific program manager Sarah Lyons, the funded projects are intended to give growers science-backed guidance for improving nutrient use efficiency under real-world farming conditions. The public funding round follows a wave of private investment in the same space, including Syngenta’s acquisition of Intrinsyx Bio to expand its nutrient-use-efficiency biologicals lineup. Rising nitrogen and phosphate costs, driven partly by elevated sulfur prices and Middle East supply disruptions, have sharpened farmer interest in application methods that reduce fertilizer needed per unit of yield.

Source: CropLife