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Improving phosphorus sustainability of sugarcane production in Brazil
- Source :
- Global Change Biology. Bioenergy, Repositório Institucional da USP (Biblioteca Digital da Produção Intelectual), Universidade de São Paulo (USP), instacron:USP, Web of Science, Repositório Institucional da UNESP, Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), instacron:UNESP, GCB Bioenergy, Vol 11, Iss 12, Pp 1444-1455 (2019)
- Publication Year :
- 2019
- Publisher :
- John Wiley and Sons Inc., 2019.
-
Abstract
- Phosphorus (P) use in global food and bioenergy production needs to become more efficient and sustainable to reduce environmental impacts and conserve a finite and critical resource (Carpenter & Bennett, Environmental Research Letters, 2011, 6, 014009; Springmann et al., Nature, 2018, 562, 519). Sugarcane is one crop with a large P footprint because production is centered on P‐fixing soils with low P availability (Roy et al., Nature Plants, 2016, 2, 16043; Withers et al., Scientific Reports, 2018, 8, 2537). As global demand for processed sugar and bioethanol continues to increase, we advocate that improving P efficiency could become a key sustainability goal for the sugarcane industry. Here, we applied the 5R global P stewardship framework (Withers et al., Ambio, 2015, 44, 193) to identify more sustainable options to manage P in Brazilian sugarcane production. We show that current inputs of P fertilizer to the current crop area could be reduced by over 305 Gg, or 63%, over the next three decades by reducing unnecessary P fertilizer use, better utilization of recyclable bioresources and redesigning recommendation systems. Adoption of these 5R options would save the sugarcane industry in Brazil 528 US$ million and help safeguard global food and energy security.<br />Improving phosphorus efficiency could become a key sustainability goal for the sugarcane industry. Here, we applied the 5R global phosphorus stewardship framework to identify more sustainable options to manage phosphorus in Brazilian sugarcane production. We show that current inputs of phosphorus fertilizer to this crop could be reduced by over 305 Gg, or 63%, over the next three decades by reducing unnecessary phosphorus fertilizer use, better utilization of recyclable bioresources and redesigning recommendation systems. Adoption of these 5R options would save the sugarcane industry in Brazil 528 US$ million and help safeguard global food and energy security.
- Subjects :
- Resource (biology)
nutrient efficiency
lcsh:TJ807-830
lcsh:Renewable energy sources
010501 environmental sciences
lcsh:HD9502-9502.5
7. Clean energy
01 natural sciences
12. Responsible consumption
SUSTENTABILIDADE
Agricultural science
Bioenergy
Production (economics)
Environmental impact assessment
phosphorus
Waste Management and Disposal
0105 earth and related environmental sciences
Original Research
bioethanol
2. Zero hunger
Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
business.industry
Forestry
04 agricultural and veterinary sciences
Energy security
15. Life on land
sustainability
lcsh:Energy industries. Energy policy. Fuel trade
5R P stewardship
Renewable energy
13. Climate action
Biofuel
Sustainability
040103 agronomy & agriculture
0401 agriculture, forestry, and fisheries
business
Agronomy and Crop Science
Brazil
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 17571707 and 17571693
- Volume :
- 11
- Issue :
- 12
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Global Change Biology. Bioenergy
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....12af0f79f0420f5064e6168a06d49734