Fertilize 4 Life
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) and the United States Department of State (DOS) signed an Interagency Agreement on February 3, 2023, for the implementation of the Global Fertilizer Challenge – Improving Fertilizer Use Efficiency, Effectiveness and Alternatives project, known as Fertilize Right. In Brazil the project is branded as Fertilize 4 Life.
Fertilize 4 Life is a multi-national scientific collaboration between University of Florida, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF|IFAS), the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (EMBRAPA), USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS), the International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC), and the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) to stimulate collaboration and research between the USA and Brazil for efficient and effective fertilizer use. The partners have organized themselves into four topical research groups that align with, and leverage, existing research.
The outcomes of this collaboration will increase fertilizer-use efficiency, reduce dependency on imports, mitigate the amount of greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture, and provide lasting solutions to advance sustainable agricultural systems in Brazil, the United States, and worldwide.
For more information about this project, contact Dr. Kay Kelsey, Professor and Project Manager kathleen.kelsey@ufl.edu
Position Announcements
- Group 1: Precision Management, Big Data, and Artificial Intelligence
Objective 1: Develop a platform that will integrate existing soil chemical, physical, and biological properties data and methodologies to develop nutrient management recommendations.
Deliverables:
- Generation of nutrient availability maps for Brazil and US (similar to ISDASoils, currently available in Africa) as an API.
- Database of soil fertility information available for future research needs.
- Integration of legacy data and current fertilizer recommendation methodologies.
Objective 2: Develop site-specific nutrient management recommendations based on soil property maps and nutrient removal measurements.
Deliverables
- Standardized procedure for creating yield/productivity maps for processing data from single-combine and multi-combine harvest operations on corn, soybean, and cotton fields for use by researchers, farmers, and agricultural service providers.
- Nutrient demand maps and estimated nutrient balances for corn, soybean, and cotton production systems.
- API that generates management zone boundaries to site-specific nutrient management recommendations in US and Brazil to best identify management zones where fertilizer rates may be reduced.
Objective 3: Evaluate the utility of the tools developed in Obj. 2 to ensure they match the needs of farmers, agronomists, and other stakeholders.
Deliverables
- Guidance on recommendation tool formatting from focus groups of farmers, agronomists, and other stakeholders.
- Evaluation of tool usability from user study and assessment of how new nutrient management recommendations best fit within existing cropping systems.
See also Science for Success funded by the Soybean Checkoff Board
- Group 2: Biological Products, Soil Biology, and Soil Health
Objective 1: To advance soil health assessments in the U.S. and Brazil.
- Sub-Objective 1: Determine site-specific effects of agricultural conservation practices on biological, physical, and chemical soil health indicators and soil functions.
- Sub-Objective 2: Evaluate and improve dynamic assessment tools (i.e., SHAPE, SoilBio, and nematode ecological indices) to quantify site-specific soil health response to land management.
Deliverables
- A set of appropriate soil health indicators sensitive to detect management practices changes.
- A validated soil health assessment tool to quantify site-specific soil health response to management in both countries.
- Critical levels (adequate, moderate, and low) for beta-glucosidase, arylsulfatase, and soil organic carbon in tropical and subtropical soils (U.S./Brazil).
- Scoring curves for soil organic carbon in tropical and subtropical soils (U.S./Brazil).
- Soil health maps based on SoilBio and SHAPE, associated with soil nematodes and soil microbial community structure.
Objective 2: Develop better fertilizer-use efficiency (FUE) strategies based on bioproducts.
Deliverables
- Improved crop-specific inoculant strains/bioproducts and formulations for corn and sugarcane.
- Promising inoculants evaluated with standard protocols in both countries, establishing metrics for assessing these products' quality and shelf life.
- Improved methods for field efficiency analysis of biological products, including a standard protocol to evaluate biological products in field experiments, which will generate a common database to make decisions.
- Protocol for Best Management Practices for Bioproducts and recommendations for growers using bioproducts.
- Group 1 Team Profile
Project Title: Database of Site-Specific, User-Driven Fertilizer Recommendation Methodologies
Team 1 1 photo at EMBRAPA Brasilia headquarters June 2023. From left to right: Ray Anderson, Emma Matcham, Angelica, João de Mendonça Naime, Ronaldo Pereira de Oliveira, Paul Adler
We exemplify cross disciplinary expertise in agronomy, irrigation science, soil science, computer science, and crop modeling. Together, we have 170 years of experience in agricultural nutrient management research.
Our disciplinary diversity creates a wide variety of skills and strengths, including instrumentation, modeling, machine learning, remote sensing, software engineering, economic risk management, and interview and focus group design.
We are unified by our interest in putting growers' needs first and foremost, and we have extensive experience with on-farm data collection. We serve diverse communities, including small farmers in California, U.S.; farm managers in Mato Grosso, BR; government agencies; large grain and cotton farmers in the eastern US; Certified Crop Advisors; extension agronomists, agricultural science students; and government agencies interested in land use planning, economic development, and food security.
Team Members
Name
Institution
Emma Matcham*
UF-Agronomy
Ray Anderson*
USDA-ARS
João de Mendonça Naime*
Embrapa
Ronaldo Pereira de Oliveira
Embrapa
Ken Sudduth
USDA-ARS
Paul Adler
USDA-ARS
Eduardo Antonio Speranza
Embrapa
Willingthon Pavan
UF-Agricultural and Biological Engineering
Kim Morgan
UF– Food and Resource Economics
* Institutional lead
- Group 2 Team Profile
Group 2 Biological Products, Soil Biology, Soil Health
Name
Institution
Adalberto P. De Leon
ARS
Amitava Chatterjee
ARS
Gillian Bruni
ARS
Jorge Ferreira
ARS
Kristen Veum
ARS
Lauren Hale
ARS
Lesley Schumacher
ARS, Lead
Bruno José R. Alves
EMBRAPA
Christiane A.O. Paiva
EMBRAPA
Enderson P. B. Ferreira
EMBRAPA
Fabio Reis Junior
EMBRAPA
Guilherme M. Chaer
EMBRAPA
Ieda de C. Mendes
EMBRAPA, Lead
Jerri Edson Zilli
EMBRAPA
Liv Severino
EMBRAPA
Luis H.B. Soares
EMBRAPA
Marco Nogueira
EMBRAPA
Mariangela Hungria
EMBRAPA
Orivaldo José Saggin Jr.
EMBRAPA
Veronica M. Reis
EMBRAPA
Jango Bhadha
UF
Luiz F.W. Roesch
UF, Lead
Marcio Nunes
UF
- Group 3: New Products, Including Fertilizers and Biostimulants
Objectives
- Conduct a comprehensive review of the literature which will (a) identify agronomic, environmental, and economic limitations of currently available nutrient sources and (b) provide a framework for designing and evaluating new nutrient formulations.
- Develop standardized protocols for evaluation of new fertilizer products to evaluate their effects on crop nutrient use efficiency, production costs, and environmental and human health impacts; these protocols will be designed to proceed from the laboratory to greenhouse to field scales.
- Increase the transportation and application characteristics of different organomineral formulations by addition of nutrients and additives (e.g. polymers, clay, organic substances) during the granulation process.
- Enhance the agronomic crop productivity and environmental impact characteristics of different organomineral formulations by addition of biostimulants and/or microbial inhibitors.
- Carry out a socioeconomic and environmental assessment of the technology using the standardized protocol develop under Objective 2 to determine economic feasibility, agronomic potential, and environmental impacts of new fertilizer products.
Deliverables
- Bibliographic review on mineral and organic fertilizer sources and biologically active materials for production of organomineral fertilizers. The project literature review will determine previous research on the combination of organic and mineral fertilizer sources with and without biostimulent compounds into one produce, the types and amounts of organic material and biostimulent compounds will be determined, and availability and use of these products in the US, Brazil, and other countries will be evaluated.
- Current protocols for agronomic and environmental evaluation will be combined with protocols developed for this project at the laboratory, greenhouse, and field scales. These protocols will combine two evaluations (agronomic and environmental) that are not currently combined with addition of recently developed methods and equipment into a protocol that would standardize the methods used and data collected to evaluate fertilizer use efficiency and environmental impact for current and future fertilizers used in different locations, soils, and production systems.
- Organic materials, mineral fertilizer sources, and biostimulents chosen for evaluation in the project will be determined during the product development phase from a list of materials and sources in the literature review based on nutrient content, and availability in the US, Brazil, and other countries. Organomineral fertilizers developed during this project will be evaluated at the greenhouse and field scale.
- Documentation of production process of organomineral fertilizer on a small batch and industrial scale.
- Group 4: More Efficient Use of Existing Nutrient Sources
Objective 1: Evaluate the ability of cover crops to recycle N, P, and K and increase mineral fertilizer use efficiency in annual crop rotations, integrated crop livestock systems (ICLS), or integrated crop livestock forestry systems (ICLFS).
Deliverables
- Field days and stakeholder workshops.
- Development of new Brazil-USA collaborations.
- Adding information from Brazil to the USDA Cover Crop Nitrogen Availability Calculator and other publicly available databases.
- Updated fertilizer recommendations to reduce fertilizer inputs and increase fertilizer efficiency.
Objective 2: Assess legume species and genotypes as forage sources and annual cover crops, then quantify how much these legumes can reduce fertilizer use when used in rotation.
Deliverables
- Field days and stakeholder workshops.
- Identification of the best cover crop species and varieties for various regions of Brazil.
- Merging Brazil data with the US National Cover Crop Breeding Network.
- Improved adoption of cover crops by growers and seed companies
Objective 3: Measure the performance of grass-legume mixed pastures or legume only pastures in integrated crop-livestock systems to increase nutrient efficiency and reduce mineral N fertilizers.
Deliverables
- Field days and stakeholder workshops.
- Increased knowledge of ICLS.
- Website and app to facilitate communication between livestock and row crop producers.
- Improved adoption of ICLS by producers.
- Group 3 Team Profile
Group 3 - Development and Evaluation of Organo-mineral Fertilizers for Improved Nutrient Use Efficiency, Increased Utilization of Local Materials, and Reduced Environmental Impacts
Update – February 2024Group three has engaged the National Agricultural Library (NAL) staff to assist with a scoping review of organo-mineral fertilizers. The group, under the leadership of Lisa Durso (USDA, ARS) initially began the process in January of 2023. Two post-docs, Osvaldo Gargiulo working with Kelly Morgan (UF) and Marian Clemente working with Vinicius Benites (Embrapa), were hired in January 2024 to assist the leadership group (Drs. Durso, Morgan, Gargiulo, Benites, and Clemente) to re-engaged with the NAL. The preliminary search terms have been identified, and seed literature has been shared with the NAL. The characterization of the initially identified papers has begun, and will continue following finalization of the search string, at which time the full group will be invited to participate.
Documents outlining research method protocols for evaluating the agronomic performance and environmental impact of fertilizer products at the laboratory, greenhouse and field scale was initiated in February 2024. The protocols will establish standardized methods to document nutrient use efficiency and availability of organomineral fertilizers. The document will follow an outline developed by the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR) that was built using peer-reviewed protocols developed by the Enhanced Fertilizer Consortium and vetted by members of Fertilizer for Life - Group Three to ensure consistency and compatibility in formulation characteristics, experimental design, sample collection, biomass and yield measurements, and environmental impacts to support large-scale impact and end-user confidence.
Group three participants led by the International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC), Embrapa, and University of Florida (Benites, Teixeira, Morgan and Gargiulo) have discussed formulated preliminary organomineral fertilizers for evaluation by the group. Preliminary laboratory and greenhouse trials will be conducted to determine formulation stability, solubility, nutrient use, and leaching potential. Input from the literature review will be used to determine final formulations for further evaluations including field trials. Evaluation at all scales will be conducted using the protocols developed by the project.
Group 3 Team Members
Name
Institution
Rodney Venterea
ARS, Lead
Mike Schmidt
ARS
Carrie Laboski
ARS
Dan Olk
ARS
Suduan Gao
ARS
Lisa Durso
ARS
Vinicius Benites
Embrapa, Lead
Caue Oliveira
Embrapa
Fabio Oliveira
Embrapa
Adriana Pires
Embrapa
Leticia Jungmann
Embrapa
Bruno Alves
Embrapa
Paulo César Teixeira
Embrapa
Rosângela Straliotto
Embrapa
Airton Kunz
Embrapa
Ederson C. Jesus
Embrapa
Jean Luiz Araújo
Embrapa
Cristiane Farinas
Embrapa
Débora Milori
Embrapa
César de Castro
Embrapa
Juliano Corulli Correa
Embrapa
Marcelo Morandi
Embrapa
Cristiano Andrade
Embrapa
Marcelo Miele
Embrapa
Kelly Morgan
UF, Lead
Hardeep Singh
UF
Lincoln Zotarelli
UF
Li Yuncong
UF
Upendra Singh
IFDC
Glauco Teixeira
IFDC
Job Fugice
IFDC
Matt Miller
IFDC
Kiran Pavuluri
IFDC
- Group 4 Team Profile
Group 4 Team Photo
Group 4 combines members with expertise in a range of topics critical to improving the efficiency of existing nutrient sources. The integration of cover crops and/or cattle into existing agronomic cropping systems is one of the more promising methods to improve nutrient use efficiency and promote sustainable intensification. Therefore, we bring together members with experience in cover crop breeding and use, cattle production, agronomy, nutrient cycling, and environmental ecology.
In addition, every member of our team is dedicated to working directly with farmers and researchers. We recognize that close collaboration with farmers is the best and most efficient way to make sure solutions to nutrient use are developed in a manner that will be successfully implemented. To achieve the goals and results of this project, a network involving grain producers, livestock farmers, extension workers, consultants, seed companies, and researchers will support and participate in on farm demonstration plots, field days, stakeholders meetings, and other activities.
Group 4 Team Members
Name
Institution
Travis Witt, Lead
USDA-ARS
Sarah Strauss, Lead
UF – Soil, Water, and Ecosystem Sciences
Jose Dubeux
UF – Agronomy
David Tarkalson
USDA-ARS
Lisa Kissing-Kucek
USDA-ARS
David Jaramillo
USDA-ARS
Carl Bolster
USDA-ARS
Kurt Spokas
USDA-ARS
Marcelo Ayres Carvalho, Lead
Embrapa
Bruno Alves
Embrapa
Roberto Guimarães Júnior
Embrapa
Pedro Luiz O. A. Machado
Embrapa
Rafael Major Pitta
Embrapa
- History of Fertilize 4 Life
The Fertilize 4 Life (F4L) Initiative
F4L began shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine and its impact on global fertilizer and food supplies. Brazil imports about 25% of its fertilizers from Russia and was concerned about supply chain disruptions. FAS suggested to the Front Office that we reach out to Embrapa to see if we could develop mutually beneficial research on fertilizer efficiency with Brazil. Embrapa, which is part of the Ministry of Agriculture, is Brazil’s leading agricultural research institute. In March 2022, at the Embassy’s recommendation, Secretary Vilsack called his counterpart in Brazil in a show of solidarity where he mentioned USDA’s work to utilize fertilizers more efficiently.
FAS then recruited Embrapa, USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS,) the University of Florida, Institute for Food and Agriculture Sciences (UF|IFAS) and the International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC) to set-up a series of workshops on fertilizer-use efficiency. In 2022 researchers from these institutions developed four projects: 1) Precision management, big data, and artificial intelligence; 2) Biological products, soil biology, and soil health; 3) New products, including fertilizer and bio-stimulants; and 4) More efficient use of existing nutrient sources. These research projects are projected to continue for four years (2023-2027).
F4L is funded by a grant from the USG’s Global Fertilizer Challenge. F4L was officially launched at a ceremony in Brasilia on April 26, 2023 marking the 50th anniversary of Embrapa. USDA, University of Florida, and Embrapa also signed an MOU on research cooperation at the ceremony.
The Backstory Between the United States and Brazil
The backstory between the U.S. and Brazil plays a vital role in this initiative. After World War II, the key U.S. policy goal towards Brazil was stopping communism in the country. U.S. policy makers believed that agriculture could be a driver for economic prosperity in Brazil that would buffer the country against communism. Brazil; however, until the 1970s was a food insecure country that needed to import most of its food to survive.
Beginning in the 1940s, the U.S. offered significant assistance to Brazil to help develop its agriculture. In the 1960s and 70s, USAID sponsored hundreds of young Brazilian agricultural scientists to obtain advanced degrees at more than 25 U.S. universities. Embrapa was created by the Brazilian government in 1973 to provide a national network for agricultural research and many of these scientists became the backbone for the institute.
Over the next 30 years, Embrapa ushered in an agricultural revolution in the country that made Brazil a world agricultural leader. For example, 25% of Brazil’s GDP is associated with agriculture and food. Today Embrapa is the leading institution in the world on tropical agriculture.
A Closer Collaboration between the United States and Brazil to Fight Global Food Insecurity and Climate Change
Because of these historical linkages, U.S. and Brazilian agricultural scientist have a long and close partnership. LABEX USA, which started in 1998 between Embrapa and USDA’s ARS on research cooperation, is an example of this close relationship. The U.S. and Brazil are two major agricultural powers and account for around 25% of world food production. Therefore, it is only fitting that the United States and Brazil, led by four world class research institutes, should supercharge this close relationship beginning with F4L to tackle the existential threats of food insecurity and climate change.
The outcomes of this collaboration will increase fertilizer-use efficiency, reduce dependency on imports, mitigate the amount of greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture, and provide lasting solutions to advance sustainable agricultural systems in Brazil, the U.S., and globally. The F4L initiative is an example of how the U.S. and Brazil are sustainably feeding the world together.
- How F4L Works to Combat Food Insecurity
Why F4L Is Vital to Combat Food Insecurity and Climate Change
The Fertilize4Life (F4L) Initiative holds the promise of having a profound, positive impact on the global battle against food insecurity and climate change.
Combating Food Insecurity
A leading agricultural scientist recently said that to feed the planet we need to produce more food in the next four decades than we have produced in the past 8,000 years combined. We need massive yield increases to achieve these results. Unfortunately, there has been very limited advances in fertilizer technology since the 1950s and fertilizer companies do little or no research. The UF|IFAS and Embrapa collaborative research projects on fertilizer-use efficiency is critical and may even serve as a type of Manhattan Project for fertilizer technology.
F4L could also have a broad impact for global agriculture. For example, soils in Brazil are very similar to soils in much of Africa. In 2010 and 2012 the U.S. government signed a memorandum of understand (MOU) with the Brazilian government to provide third country technical assistance to help with food security.
Making Fertilizer more Sustainable
Fertilizers produce greenhouse gases after farmers apply them to their fields. Much of the applied fertilizer runs off into waterways or is broken down by microbes in the soil, releasing greenhouse gas nitrous oxide into the atmosphere. Pound for pound, nitrous oxide warms the planet 300 times more than carbon dioxide. In recent years, Brazilian agriculture has also been using more fertilizers to maintain current yields.
- Press Releases Promoting F4L -1
The following press releases are in Portuguese, however, Google Chrome offers English translation in upper right hand corner.
- https://www.jornalminuano.com.br/noticia/2023/09/16/bage-sediara-debate-sobre-sustentabilidade-agropecuaria-com-representantes-dos-estados-unidos
- https://portal.datagro.com/en/5/livestock/710736/brazil-and-the-usa-come-together-to-discuss-sustainability-in-agricultural-production
- https://nordesterural.com.br/brasil-e-eua-se-reunem-para-discutir-uma-parceria-na-producao-agropecuaria/
- https://feedfood.com.br/iniciativa-reune-brasil-e-eua-para-falar-de-sustentabilidade/
- https://revistacultivar.com.br/noticias/brasil-e-eua-se-unem-para-discutir-sustentabilidade-na-producao-agropecuaria?utm_medium=email
- https://www.iclipping.com.br/noticia/99/6332775
- https://www.jornalminuano.com.br/noticia/2023/09/16/bage-sediara-debate-sobre-sustentabilidade-agropecuaria-com-representantes-dos-estados-unidos
- https://www.agrolink.com.br/noticias/brasil-e-eua-se-unem-para-discutir-sustentabilidade-na-producao-agropecuaria_483517.html
- https://agrodaqui.com.br/brasil-e-eua-unem-forcas-para-promover-sustentabilidade-na-agropecuaria/
- https://www.anoticiamt.com.br/agronegocio/brasil-e-eua-se-unem-para-discutir-sustentabilidade-na-producao-agropecuaria/164602
- https://conecta.deere.com.br/noticias/sustentabilidade/brasil-e-eua-se-unem-pela-sustentabilidade-na-agropecuaria
- https://agro.mt/brasil-e-eua-se-unem-para-discutir-sustentabilidade-na-producao-agropecuaria/
- https://ioeste.com.br/brasil-agropecuaria-brasil-e-eua-se-unem-para-discutir-sustentabilidade-na-producao-agropecuaria/
- https://agrorevenda.com.br/brasil-e-eua-debatem-sustentabilidade-na-producao-agropecuaria/
- https://www.noticiasagricolas.com.br/noticias/agronegocio/359472-brasil-e-eua-se-unem-para-discutir-sustentabilidade-na-producao-agropecuaria.html
- https://opresenterural.com.br/brasil-e-eua-se-unem-para-discutir-sustentabilidade-na-producao-agropecuaria/
- Press Releases Promoting F4L -2
The following press releases are in Portuguese, however, Google Chrome offers English translation in upper right hand corner.
- https://mundoagrobrasil.com.br/brasil-e-eua-se-unem-para-discutir-sustentabilidade-na-producao-agropecuaria/
- https://destaquerural.com.br/2023/09/15/brasil-e-eua-se-unem-para-discutir-sustentabilidade-na-producao-agropecuaria/
- https://tempodesafra.com.br/brasil-e-eua-se-unem-para-discutir-sustentabilidade-na-producao-agropecuaria/
- https://www.comprerural.com/brasil-e-eua-se-unem-para-discutir-sustentabilidade-na-producao-agropecuaria/
- https://suino.com.br/brasil-e-eua-se-unem-para-discutir-sustentabilidade-na-producao-agropecuaria/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=brasil-e-eua-se-unem-para-discutir-sustentabilidade-na-producao-agropecuaria
- https://folhanoroeste.blogspot.com/2023/09/brasil-e-eua-se-unem-para-discutir.html
- https://cnabrasil.org.br/noticias/sistema-cna-senar-debate-sobre-seguranca-alimentar-com-representantes-dos-eua
- https://www.embrapa.br/busca-de-noticias/-/noticia/83647003/professor-da-universidade-da-florida-mostra-experiencias-no-uso-eficiente-de-nutrientes-na-agricultura-e-busca-aproximacao-entre-instituicoes-do-brasil-e-dos-eua
- https://www.ufrpe.br/br/content/projeto-collaboration-brazilus-promove-evento-na-próxima-segunda-feira-2509
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