CRC Press Phosphorus Management in Crop Production

The world population is projected to reach nine billion by 2050, and in the coming years, global food demand is expected to increase by 50% or more. Higher crop productivity gains in the future will have to be achieved in developing countries through better natural resources management and crop improvement. After nitrogen, phosphorus (P) has more widespread influence on both natural and agricultural ecosystems than any other essential plant element. It has been estimated that 5.7 billion hectares of land worldwide contain insufficient amounts of available P for sustainable crop production, and P deficiency in crop plants is a widespread problem in various parts of the world. However, it has been estimated that worldwide minable P could last less than 40 years. For sustaining future food supplies, it is vital to enhance plant P use efficiency. To bring the latest knowledge and research advances in efficient management of P for economically viable and environmentally beneficial crop production in sustainable agriculture, Phosphorus Management in Crop Production contains chapters covering functions and diagnostic techniques for P requirements in crop plants, P use efficiency and interactions with other nutrients in crop plants, management of P for optimal crop production and environmental quality, and basic principles and methodology regarding P nutrition in crop plants. The majority of research data included are derived from many years of field, greenhouse, and lab work, hence the information is practical in nature and will have a significant impact on efficient management of P-fertilizers to enhance P use efficiency, improve crop production, promote sustainable agriculture, and reduce P losses through eluviations, leaching, and erosion to minimize environmental degradation. A comprehensive book that combines practical and applied information, Phosphorus Management in Crop Production is an excellent reference for students, professors, agricultural research scientists, food scientists, agricultural extension specialists, private consultants, fertilizer companies, and government agencies that deal with agricultural and environmental issues. About the Author Nand Kumar Fageria received his PhD in agronomy, and had been senior research soil scientist at the National Rice and Bean Research Center, Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuaria, since 1975. Dr. Fageria was a nationally and internationally recognized expert in the area of mineral nutrition of crop plants and a research fellow and an ad hoc consultant for the Brazilian Scientific and Technological Research Council (CNPq) since 1989. Dr. Fageria was the first to identify zinc deficiency in upland rice grown on Brazilian Oxisols in 1975. He had developed crop genotype screening techniques for aluminum and salinity tolerance and nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and zinc use efficiency. Dr. Fageria also established adequate soil acidity indices like pH, base saturation, Al saturation, and Ca, Mg, and K saturation for dry bean grown on Brazilian Oxisols in conservation or no-tillage system. He also determined adequate and toxic levels of micronutrients in soil and plant tissues of upland rice, corn, soybean, dry bean, and wheat grown on Brazilian Oxisols. Dr. Fageria determined adequate rate of N, P, and K for lowland and upland rice grown on Brazilian lowland soils, locally known as "Varzea" and Oxisols of "Cerrado" region, respectively. He also screened a large number of tropical legume cover crops for acidity tolerance and N, P, and micronutrient use efficiency. Dr. Fageria characterized chemical and physical properties of Varzea soils of several states of Brazil, which can be helpful in better fertility management of these soils for sustainable crop production. Dr. Fageria also determined adequate rate and sources of P and acidity indices for soybean grown on Brazilian Oxisols. The results of all these studies have been published in scientific pa