The Promise of Sustainability

Agricultures contribution to Natural Resource Management

The Promise of Sustainability by Ewald Schnug, JKI Braunschweig, Germany

The RIO21 Promise on Sustainable Development ”Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”. From "Our Common Future", The Brundtland Commission, 1987

by Richard Kimbrell)

“We currently live in the economy and culture of the “one-night stand“. “Industrialism has provided us innummerable commodities, amusements, and distractions, but these offer us little satisfactions. Instead we suffer everincreasing alienation from our families, our communities, and the natural world“. (Wendell Berry`s introduction to Kimbrell`s “Fatal Harvest“ 2002)

Investments in sustainability are investions in future generations, which are usually not profitable for the present

Profit is not an indicator for sustainability!

just two negative examples: “Sustainable: investments are front loaded, low recurrent costs“ H. Bouis, HarvestPlus at BioVision 2008 about “Bio-Fortification“

“butter travelling“

.....what about sustainability?

Sustainability for beginners: Please leave this room in the state as you wish to find it for you! a “resource“

Sustainability for advanced users:

Please leave this planet in the state as you wish to find it for you!

“Like a pig with the feed stock ...“ ... on sustainability and phosphorus

...

Life needsPhosphorus Phor what?

DNS

P

1% of us is:

hosphorus

Energy ATP-Molekül

Skeleton

Genetics

Phosphorus: can not be replaced in living organisms!

Profit ist kein Indikator für Nachhaltigkeit!

Phosphorus: one of our immortal values...! .............. the P bound in one human equals approx. 5 sacks of wheat............................

World P resources are limited! ...........50 - 100 years left only!

Developed countries tend to spoil P in agriculture in animal farm operations:

P-balance of different farm operations in Germany (kg ha-1 P) (Frede, 2003): Farming-type

Arable Forage Animal

Input

13

17

41

Output

22

12

20

Surplus

-9

5

21

P-fertilization in developed countries exceeds plant uptake P-balance and plant available P (DL) in soils (0-25 cm depth, cumulative 25 years)

250 V 140/01 V 140/02 V 140/03 V 140/04

PDL [mg kg-1]

200

150

y = 0.0622x + 60.6 r2 = 0.9206 n = 56

100

50

..... surplus P accumulates in soil ... 0 0

500

1000

P-balance [kg ha-1]

1500

2000

... and causes (among others) EUTROPHICATION

Competition for phosphorus In developing countries P limits soil productivity – and energy crops begin to compete with food crops for P

Food or Fuel?

20% of Egypt`s population are considered as absolute poor 44% live beyond the upper poverty line “World hunger is not created by lack of food but by poverty and landlessness, which deny people access to food. Industrial agriculture actually increases hunger by raising the cost of farming, by forcing tens of millions of farmers off the land, and by growing primarily highprofit export and luxury crops" (Kimbrell, 2002)

The very dark side of P-fertilization……

“Fertlizer“ Lithography by Andreas Paul Weber, 1964

P-fertilizers charge soils with radiactive & chemotoxic URANIUM

IMC Agrico Phosphate Processing Plant, Florida - Photograph by Michael Connett, 2001-

Heavy metals in mineral P-fertilizers Element

Concentration in P fertilizers(mg/kg)

Load at GAP (g/ha)

Time to double soil concentration (y, P-fert. only)

Target limit in P fertilizers (mg/kg)

Hg

0.05

0.02

As

4

1.4

97,500

2.8

Cd

5

1.8

2,885

2.1

Pb

5

1.8

Cu

15

5.3

Ni

15

5.3

U

50

17.6

Zn

100

35.2

Cr

200

70.4

205 3,687

2.8 31.3

Uranium in world P-resources can feed the nuclear energy cycle for 350 years

(World U resources actually: approx. for 50 more years)

What do we have to do to keep the promises to mankind on sustainable development in case of phosphorus?

Practice A: Close anthropogenic P cycles ! Soylent Green (USA 1973) Darsteller: Charlton Heston, Chuck Connors u.a. Inhalt: In einer übervölkerten und zerstörten zukünftigen Welt ernähren sich Millionen Menschen von Synthetikessen. Aber es steckt ein böses Geheimnis dahinter.

Soylent Green

Better and cleaner fertilizers, complete recycling of used phosphorus!

Soylent Green Biscuit Company Robert Wenzlaff – “I'm not just the President, I'm also a raw material!“

Practice B: Feed Uranium to power plants and not to soils and the food chain!

The message to the world:

Don´t let true Sustainable Development become a Myth!

Thank you for your attention!