Influences of international agricultural trade on the global phosphorus cycle and its associated issues
Lun, Fei (China Agricultural University)
Sardans i Galobart, Jordi (Centre de Recerca Ecològica i d'Aplicacions Forestals)
Sun, Danfeng (China Agricultural University)
Xiao, Xiao (China Agricultural University)
Liu, Ming (China Agricultural University)
Li, Zhuo (China Agricultural University)
Wang, Chongyang (China Agricultural University)
Hu, Qiyuan (China Agricultural University)
Tang, Jiayue (China Agricultural University)
Ciais, Philippe (Centre d'Etudes Orme des Merisiers)
Janssens, Ivan (Universiteit Antwerpen)
Obersteiner, Michael (International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (Àustria))
Peñuelas, Josep (Centre de Recerca Ecològica i d'Aplicacions Forestals)

Date:	2021
Abstract:	Industrial phosphorus (P) fertilizer has substantially improved global food production, but has also led to environmental impacts. Intensive global agricultural trade has increased and the impacts of trade on aggravating or alleviating future P scarcity must be examined, especially for the most vulnerable countries. We combined data to estimate the global P trade among countries and its impacts on global P flows, based on global agricultural trade, cropland soil P budgets and crop P fertilizer footprints (the amount of industrial P fertilizer applied for producing one unit of P in the harvested crop). The global agricultural P trade represented a fraction of 16% of P in harvested crops in 2014, half of which was exported from the United States of America, Brazil and the European Union and one fifth imported by China. Virtual P fertilizer flows (about 2. 60 Tg P y-1) referred to industrial P fertilizers applied to traded crops by exporting countries; thus, 1/3 of global virtual P fertilizer flows were associated with the international soybean trade. P use efficiency (PUE), the ratio of the harvested crop-P to the total external P inputs, is a larger problem for tropical than temperate countries. Global crop trade had brought in a net 0. 2 Tg P y-1 savings of industrial P fertilizers globally, compared to crop production in export and import countries.
Grants:	European Commission 610028
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, i la comunicació pública de l'obra, sempre que no sigui amb finalitats comercials, i sempre que es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original. No es permet la creació d'obres derivades.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Subject:	International agricultural trade ; Global P cycle ; Crop P fertilizer footprint ; Virtual P fertilizer flows ; P use efficiency
Published in:	Global environmental change, Vol. 69 (July 2021) , art. 102282, ISSN 1872-9495

DOI: 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2021.102282

13 p, 14.1 MB

The record appears in these collections:
Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Experimental sciences > CREAF (Centre de Recerca Ecològica i d'Aplicacions Forestals) > Imbalance-P
Articles > Research articles
Articles > Published articles