Why in News
Recent news report states that India is running out of Phosphorus.
Phosphorus - Chemical Properties
Phosphorus cycles through both the abiotic and biotic parts of the Earth system.
Phosphorus is a non-metal that sits just below nitrogen in group 15 of the periodic table.
Phosphorus is found in the Earth's crust, primarily in sedimentary rocks that contain phosphate (PO43-) minerals.
Phosphorus is one of the major plant nutrients in the soil.
Natural Occurrence and Industrial Uses
The world’s largest reserves are in Morocco and the Western Sahara region.
Today, a handful of countries control most of the world’s reserves of phosphorus.
phosphorus coexists with cadmium.
Cadmium is a toxic metal.
Removal of cadmium is expensive.
If we do not remove cadmium from the phosphorus, we may face a public health crisis; if we do, fertilizers will become more expensive.
Only six countries have substantial cadmium-free phosphorous reserves.
India is the world’s largest importer of phosphorus.
Challenges with phosphorus use in agriculture
Cadmium free phosphorus are highly expensive and will directly affect the farmers.
If the farmers go without phosphorus added fertilizers, the yield will be very low.
Increases the risk of most phosphorus being lost via run-off, leaching or soil erosion, finally ending up in lakes, rivers and oceans .
This represents a financial loss and environmental damage.
Its scarcity, pollution, and potential solutions
Phosphorus is a limited resource.
Overuse of fertilizer has led to phosphorus shortages and water pollution.
At current consumption levels, we will run out of known phosphorus reserves in around 80 years.
Mining of Phosphorus require of more energy to reach those deposits.
Excess phosphorus feeds algae growth that makes waters less attractive for swimming and other aquatic recreation.
Excess phosphorus degrades the conditions that fish, bugs, wildlife, and desired plants need to thrive.
Phosphorus can fuel toxic blue-green algal blooms, which are harmful to people and pets.
The primary solution is, applying fertilizers in the proper amount.
Applying of phosphorus in right time and right method will reduce the fertilizer reaches the water bodies.
Keeping animals and their waste out of streams keeps nitrogen and phosphorus out of the water and protects stream banks.
Phosphorus can fuel toxic blue-green algal blooms, which are harmful to people and pets.
The primary solution is, applying fertilizers in the proper amount.
Applying of phosphorus in right time and right method will reduce the fertilizer reaches the water bodies.
Keeping animals and their waste out of streams keeps nitrogen and phosphorus out of the water and protects stream banks.
Precision Agriculture(PA)
Precision agriculture is a farming management strategy based on observing, measuring and responding to temporal and spatial variability.
This will improve agricultural production sustainability.
It is used in both crop and livestock production.
PA is also sometimes referred to as precision farming, satellite agriculture, as-needed farming and site-specific crop management (SSCM).
The goal of precision agriculture is to increase efficiency and productivity, reduce input costs, and improve environmental sustainability.
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