The Efficient Fertilizer Consortium (EFC) is a public-private partnership that will fund research to advance enhanced efficiency and novel fertilizer products and practices that are environmentally beneficial and agronomically productive. There are many innovative fertilizer products that are available or entering the market; however, there is a lack of rigorous scientific evidence validating the efficacy of these products despite positive agronomic and environmental industry claims. With increasing pressure to mitigate nutrient loss while maintaining or increasing crop yields, farmers need accurate, science-based information about products and practices that work in a range of different farm systems and climates to make informed nutrient management decisions. To improve our understanding and enable confident adoption of novel products, a rigorous evaluation framework is needed, including minimum data standards, common protocols and proper controls. Industry-standard protocols developed by the scientific community will lead to proper verification of and confidence in new products entering the market.
Through this convening event, scientific experts came together to:
- Share experience with existing evaluation and database frameworks with EFC partners and fellow scientists;
- Identify key components that should be considered for inclusion in protocol and minimum data standards for evaluating a variety of alternative fertilizers; and
- Identify scientific groups or individuals who should be involved in the development of common evaluation protocols.
Thank you to the PACT Alliance for supporting this event and to the EFC funding partners for making this consortium possible.
Read the convening event report for a summary of this event including highlights and next steps.