Fertilize Right is a 4-year project (2023-2027) led and implemented by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Foreign Agricultural Service under the U.S. Department of State’s Global Fertilizer Challenge. Fertilize Right activities in the four project countries, Brazil, Colombia, Pakistan, and Vietnam will be based on the 4Rs of nutrient management, a concept embraced by representatives of the fertilizer industry as well as USDA. The 4Rs entail the use of fertilizer from the Right source applied at the Right rate at the Right time and in the Right place (see figure below). USDA, utilizing technical expertise from agencies such as its Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), as well as U.S. land grant universities, will assess the needs and opportunities for addressing each of the 4Rs within a framework that improves fertilizer-use efficiency, soil health, and food security, while also reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Fertilize Right Partner Summaries
The Fertilize Right Brazil team consists of over 60 researchers from the United States and Brazil who are conducting research to advance fertilizer efficiency and effectiveness in Brazil. The areas of research include precision management, big data and AI. The team will also look at biological products, soil biology, and health. In addition, they will study new fertilizer products such as bio-stimulants, and they will study more efficient nutrient use through cover crops and crop-livestock systems.
Scoping missions to Brazil in May 2023 and to Alabama in August 2023 allowed the team to visit research stations, connect with farmers utilizing new agricultural technologies, build partnerships, and develop initial research plans. For example, visits with groups like MEC Farm and Bom Futuro Group opened opportunities to collaborate on testing and scaling their research outcomes.
With strong networks established, the Fertilize Right Brazil researchers are carrying out their workplans, using an integrated approach across the four workstreams to reach the program's goals of improving fertilizer efficiency and effectiveness and finding new solutions that promote agricultural productivity, while protecting the environment.
The Fertilize Right Colombia program, which was launched in August 2023, aims to improve nitrogen use efficiency and enhance soil health for rice production and to utilize precision agriculture to optimize input application for banana crops. The USDA team in Colombia, which is working in partnership with the Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), has engaged various producer groups and fertilizer companies, formed a partner network, met with government representatives to secure support, and conducted numerous field visits for insights into nutrient management practices on local farms.
Baseline assessments of soil health, socioeconomic conditions, and current nitrous oxide emissions will track progress toward the team's goals on fertilizer efficiency and effectiveness, on identifying potential alternatives, and on ensuring sustainable nutrient management practices that balance productivity and environmental protection.
The Fertilize Right Pakistan program, which was announced in March 2023, is a collaboration between USDA, the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC), the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), and other partners.
The team has identified priority focus areas, including building local stakeholder groups well-represented by women, researching climate-resilient cropping systems suited to the needs of women farmers, and addressing gender barriers around adopting new agricultural technologies to ensure equitable access and participation.
The Fertilize Right Pakistan team put together a theory of change analysis indicating that robust program uptake could stabilize or reduce projected agricultural emissions increases under a business-as-usual trajectory. This would set Pakistan on a pathway to meet its stated goal of a 30 percent emissions reduction from 2018 levels, while promoting gender equality in the agricultural sector.
Implementation planning is now underway, with priorities including the expanded use of slow-release fertilizers, coated nitrogen products, and on-farm waste-product reuse to improve nutrient efficiency -- all with a gender lens to ensure women farmers also benefit from these solutions.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture and Vietnam's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) are still working to finalize the details of the Vietnam Fertilize Right program, which was launched in 2023 and will include participation by the International Rice Research Institute. However, there is already strong stakeholder interest due to the close alignment between the program's goals around efficient fertilizer use, food security, organic nutrient sources, and greenhouse gas mitigation and Vietnam's agricultural priorities.