This report presents the world nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium fertilizer medium-term supply and demand forecasts for the period 2017-2022. FAO, in collaboration with other members of the Fertilizer Outlook Expert Group dealing with fertilizer production, consumption and trade, provides forecasts of world and regional fertilizer supply, demand and potential balance.

Many elements and inorganic compounds play an extraordinary role in daily life for numerous applications, e. g., construction materials, inorganic pigments, inorganic coatings, steel, glass, technical gases, energy storage and conversion materials, fertilizers, homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysts, photofunctional materials, semiconductors, superconductors, soft- and hard magnets, technical ceramics, hard materials, or biomedical and bioactive materials. The present book is written by experienced authors who give a comprehensive overview on the many chemical and physico-chemical aspects related to application of inorganic compounds and materials in order to introduce senior undergraduate and postgraduate students (chemists, physicists, materials scientists, engineers) into this broad field.

Food starts with soils, and as the target date to accomplish the SDGs grows closer, it is more urgent than ever to reverse soil degradation and tackle its effects on agrifood systems. This booklet aims to review the role of soil fertility in producing sufficient, safe, and more nourishing food for healthier plants, animals, and people. It also offers recommendations for solutions that can provide a more nutritious agrifood system for enhancing human health and wellbeing while protecting the environment. Soil fertility and nutrition involve processes at scales ranging from molecules to the entire planet. Our interventions in these processes may exacerbate the global challenges we face but can also be modified to solve them. This booklet contributes to understanding processes related to soil fertility from the perspectives of food production and food security, and the environmental and climate change impacts associated with fertilizer misuse and overuse. The booklet also outlines the main areas of opportunity and the way forward to solve the nutrient imbalance prevailing in our current agrifood systems.

FAO’s major publications series are presented together in a user-friendly catalogue. The catalogue features all of the most active series, both new and long-standing, and is divided into areas of work, including agriculture, forestry, fisheries, trade and investment, among others. Each series entry includes technical specifications, language versions, most recent titles, relevant ISSNs, and QR codes linking to online resources in the FAO Document Repository.

The food industry is a notoriously complex economic sector that has not received the attention it deserves within legal scholarship. Production and distribution of food is complex because of its polycentric character (as it operates at the intersection of different public policies) and its dynamic evolution and transformation in the last few decades (from technological and governance perspectives). This volume introduces the global value chain approach as a useful way to analyse competition law and applies it to the operations of food chains and the challenges of their regulation. Together, the chapters not only provide a comprehensive mapping of a vast comparative field, but also shed light on the intricacies of the various policies and legal fields in operation. The book offers a conceptual and theoretical framework for competition authorities, companies and academics, and fills a massive gap in the competition policy literature dealing with global value chains and food.

This book is the first comprehensive compilation of existing knowledge on the impact of cisgenic crops on biodiversity, environment, and ecosystem. Strategies to create and access cisgenic crops, potential risks assessment, and legal implications across the globe (European Union, North and South Americas, Africa, and Asia) are enumerated. Ethics, economics, safety, social concerns, and consumer acceptance of cisgenic foods are deliberated. Policy paradigm and ways to overcome GM regulations through cisgenic crops are highlighted. The book has 12 chapters authored by internationally leading experts on the subject. This book will be useful especially for the policy makers and GMO regulators, while the students, teachers, and researchers from across the globe will be equally benefited.

Under ongoing climate change, natural and cultivated habitats of major food crops are being continuously disturbed. Such condition accelerates to impose stress effects like abiotic and biotic stressors. Drought, salinity, flood, cold, heat, heavy metals, metalloids, oxidants, irradiation etc. are important abiotic stresses; and diseases and infections caused by plant pathogens viz. fungal agents, bacteria and viruses are major biotic stresses. As a result, these harsh environments affect crop productivity and its biology in multiple complex paradigms. As stresses become the limiting factors for agricultural productivity and exert detrimental role on growth and yield of the crops, scientists and researchers are challenged to maintain global food security for a rising world population. This two-volume work highlights the fast-moving agricultural research on crop improvement through the stress mitigation strategies, with specific focuses on crop biology and their response to climatic instabilities. Together with "Climate Resilient Agriculture, Vol 1: Crop Responses and Agroecological Perspectives", it covers a wide range of topics under environmental challenges, agronomy and agriculture processes, and biotechnological approaches, uniquely suitable for scientists, researchers and students working in the fields of agriculture, plant science, environmental biology and biotechnology.

The book aim to contribute the latest understandings of physiological, biochemical and molecular bases of the responses of major crop plants to a range of different biomass produced biochar to introduce climate resilience crop varieties which leads to enhanced crop productivity and quality under stressful conditions and also for better utilization of natural resources to ensure food security through modern breeding. Finally, this book will be a valuable resource for future plant stress related research with biochar, and can be considered as a reference book for front-line researchers working on sustaining crop production under climate change. Adverse effects of climate changes on crops has developed the situation quite critical for sustainable agriculture. Food security has become in danger due to low production of agricultural crops by resilient climate and ever increasing human population. Heat, drought, salinity, soil compaction, flooding and poor soil organic carbon induced stress in crops by climate adverse conditions are major concerns in this regard. A mechanistic understanding of the interactions between abiotic stresses response of crops is needed to identify and take advantage of acclimation traits in major crop species as a prerequisite for securing robust yield and good quality. This underpins a need for crops with inherent yield increase, yield stability against multiple abiotic stresses and improved quality. Individual stress tolerance mechanisms have been well documented so far. However, mechanisms behind plants’ tolerance by application of biochar and its interactions with soil and plant roots towards multiple abiotic stresses are not fully understood. In addition, there will always be some uncertainty associated with modelling the complex relationships between agricultural yields, product quality with biochar under future climate scenarios. Prediction of yield and quality stability, one of most complex agronomic traits, must integrate aspects of plant development, physiology, biochemistry and genetics. Furthermore, the GxExM interactions will complicate the model predications, thus the responses of a given genotype to a defined environment under certain management strategy need to be determined empirically and used to parameterise and refine crop models.

Gain the scientific knowledge you need to achieve excellence in home food production with this unique and in-depth guide by Tony O’Neill of YouTube’s Simplify Gardening. If you are an intermediate or advanced gardener looking to level-up your growing skills, Simplify Vegetable Gardening is the ideal reference for meeting your goal. Your garden will flourish with the help of Tony’s growing prowess and eye-opening approach to enhancing plant health and yields that relies on a clear understanding of the interconnectedness of Earth’s many systems and how they each affect plant growth. From the soil food web’s impact on plant nutrition and the atmosphere’s connection to photosynthesis to the effects of the water cycle on plant transpiration, Tony offers a deep dive into the science of growing a robust and sustainable home garden. You will learn how to: Optimize plant health by understanding mineral nutrition Enhance soil tilth by fostering the right microorganisms Maximize plant breeding and propagation techniques to grow more and better-adapted plants Boost production through the understanding of essential plant functions Improve biodiversity and plant resilience by adopting a mixed planting strategy Be a crucial part of your regional food system and enhance community food security Plus, diversify your garden’s offerings through profiles of 16 plant families that encompass 81 different food crops. Each family profile provides information on how to cultivate these plants based on the commonalities of the plant family in which they belong. Starting with the “Why?” and ending with the “Wow!”, Simplify Vegetable Gardening is exactly what you need to help your edible garden reach peak performance.