Magnitude of anthropogenic phosphorus storage in the agricultural production and the waste management systems at the regional and country scales.
Based on a systematic review of 17 recent substance flow analyses of phosphorus (P) at the regional and country scales, this study presents an assessment of the magnitude of anthropogenic P storage in the agricultural production and the waste management systems to identify the potential for minimizing unnecessary P storage to reduce the input of P as mineral fertilizer and the loss of P. The assessment indicates that in case of all (6) P flow analyses at the regional scale, the combined mass of annual P storage in the agricultural production and the waste management systems is greater than 50 % of the mass of annual P inflow as mineral fertilizer in the agricultural production system, while this is close to or more than 100 % in case of half of these analyses. At the country scale, in case of the majority (7 out of 11) of analyses, the combined mass of annual P storage in the agricultural production and the waste management systems has been found to be roughly equivalent or greater than 100 % of the mass of annual P inflow as mineral fertilizer in the agricultural production system, while it ranged from 30 to 60 % in the remaining analyses. A simple scenario analysis has revealed that the annual storage of P in this manner over 100 years could result in the accumulation of a massive amount of P in the agricultural production and the waste management systems at both the regional and country scales. This study suggests that sustainable P management initiatives at the regional and country scales should put more emphasis on minimizing unwanted P storage in the agricultural production and the waste management systems.
Department of Infrastructure Engineering, The University of Melbourne, Victoria, 3010, Australia. rubel_cric@yahoo.com.
Rubel Biswas
RB
Chowdhury
Business School, University of Glasgow, Scotland, UK.
Priyanka
P
Chakraborty
D000383:Agriculture / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D005308:Fertilizers / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010758:Phosphorus; D018505:Waste Management / Q000379:methods*
D005308:Fertilizers; D010758:Phosphorus
Agricultural production; Mineral fertilizer; Phosphorus; Soil; Substance flow analysis; Sustainable management; Waste management