Fertilizer addiction : Implications for Sustainable Agriculture

This brief presents a model-based examination of short and long-term tradeoffs between two alternate agricultural paradigms: industrial agriculture dependent on agrochemicals, fuel-based mechanization and irrigation operations, etc.; and sustainable, low external input agriculture centered on preservation of soil organic matter (Pedercini, Zullich and Dianati 2014a, 2014b). The associated policy implications for long-term sustainability in agricultural yields, and food security, are huge.