Phosphorus as a Bottleneck for a Sustainable Food Suply

Abstract

Summary Phosphorus is an essential nutrient for all forms of life, which means that food cannot be produced without it. As the phosphate rock (concentrated source of phosphorus) is a non-renewable and finite resource, with no substitute, without more sustainable management of phosphorus its deposits could be depleted in a rather short period. In addition, much of phosphorus eventually ends up in environment, where it causes pollution. Hence, one could say that the lack of phosphorus and its inappropriate management could be a bottleneck for a sustainable food supply and agricultural development in general. Nevertheless, unlike some other challenges that modern agriculture has to face (for example, water and energy scarcity, climate changes etc) the problem of phosphorus limited availability and accessibility has been largely neglected until recently. This paper’s particular intention is to explain why phosphorus management is one of key issues for the sustainable food supply and agricultural development, which factors have to be considered when dealing with this topic and which technologies could be applied as potential solutions. One solution to become independent from the fossil deposits of phosphorus might be its extraction from wastewater, which could contribute significantly to overcome the looming phosphorus and growing environmental crisis.