Unravelling the anthropogenic pathways of phosphorus in the food production and consumption system of Bangladesh through the lens of substance flow analysis

Abstract

Phosphorus (P) is central to food production. Current understanding about the global phosphorus system is dominated by studies in wealthier nations where soil fertility, fertilizer supply chains, and agronomic tracking have long been established. In contrast, developing nations are experiencing major agricultural transitions and the associated phosphorus flows remain a significant knowledge gap. We compiled and analyzed several years of recent agricultural datasets for Bangladesh, currently the eighth most populous nation, using substance flow analysis for phosphorus. From 2000 to 2016, rice production increased by >50% and remained the dominant crop with remarkably higher phosphorus flow (49.96 kt in 2016) than all other crops. Phosphorus content of livestock products in 2016 exceeded 6.00 kt, more than double in the year 2000, driven primarily by phosphorus in milk and secondarily in meat/eggs. These agricultural changes coincided with a doubling of national phosphorus fertilizer consumption since 2000, a fourfold increase since the global food crisis (2009), and a pronounced rise in the phosphorus import dependency ratio, which was the highest among all countries compared. In turn, during 2010s fertilizer phosphorus use exceeded phosphorus as food + feed production leading to soil phosphorus accumulation, and loss as burned manure became one of the largest phosphorus flows in the entire system, equivalent to half of fertilizer use. This dramatic reconfiguration of the Bangladesh phosphorus system illustrates an important case of agricultural expansion and intensification that is still playing out, with similar situations occurring in developing nations where population growth rates are high, and access to commercial fertilizers has risen.

The evolution of biomass flows in Bangladesh (1961–2019): Providing insights for Bangladesh's transition to a sustainable circular bioeconomy

“…The situation explains higher average fertilizer application in Bangladesh (155 kg/ha/year) compared to India (100 kg/ha/year) or Pakistan (135 kg/ha/year) (Singh et al., 2012). This acute dependence on fertilizer for the production of major staple crops made the agricultural system of Bangladesh highly vulnerable to changes in fertilizer availability and prices as most of the fertilizer is imported (Roy, Biswas Chowdhury, et al., 2019). Another aspect of intensive farming is the negative impacts of eutrophication.…”

Understanding Farmers’ Behaviors and Driving Factors Toward Phosphorus Security of Crop Farming in Chaohu Watershed, China

“…The applications of compound fertilizer and phosphate fertilizer also influenced the P security obviously. P accumulation resulting from over application of P fertilizers may cause phosphate saturation in soils, a state which is characterized by the increased leaching and runoff of added P [52][53][54]. As discussed above, the amount of fertilizers had the positive correlation with the P security.…”

Evaluation of Bangladeshi Rice Genotypes and Improved lines for Shoot Biomass under higher levels of Phosphorus Deficiency at vegetative stage

“…Given its non-renewable existence, past year's price of P-fertilizer rose several folds and further price increases seem unavoidable (Cordell, et al, 2009). Bangladesh government spent over 71 billion Bangladeshi taka in the year 2012-2013 to import P-fertilizer (BER, 2014;FEMU, 2015) and become the top P-import dependent country (Roy et al 2019). Developing cultivars with tolerance to P-deficiency may represent a more sustainable solution than sole reliance on fertilizer application.…”