INTERNATIONAL PLANT NUTRITION INSTITUTE REPORTS ON ITS EFFORTS TO FIGHT WORLD HUNGER

INTERNATIONAL PLANT NUTRITION INSTITUTE REPORTS ON ITS EFFORTS TO FIGHT WORLD HUNGER

May 20, 2008 — Vienna, Austria —Fighting world hunger through the appropriate use of plant nutrients was a major theme of a recent Board of Directors meeting of the International Plant Nutrition Institute (IPNI), held May 17 in Vienna, Austria. Launched by the world’s leading fertilizer manufacturers on January 1, 2007, IPNI is a scientific, agronomic organization dedicated to develop and promote scientific information about the responsible management of plant nutrients.

“Fertilizer is critical to solving the problem of the world’s rapidly shrinking grain stocks,” said IPNI President, Dr. Terry L. Roberts. “Responsible management of fertilizer nutrients must focus on approaches that optimally meet the nutritional needs of crops. Failing to do so means that we squander part of the plant’s genetic potential and inefficiently utilize the other natural resources required for crop production. This means either that more people go hungry or more land must be brought into production.”

IPNI scientists reported on global progress in their efforts to update fertilizer best management practices (BMPs) and expanding their global adoption. Fertilizer BMPs are the tools farmers use for efficient and effective nutrient management and the major means for crop producers to meet their production and environmental goals. They are the practical products of science and result from extensive applied research. IPNI is currently supporting over 130 research projects worldwide that continue to feed new scientific information into cropping systems to better enable those systems to produce more food.

The core of the fertilizer industry’s BMP strategy is to apply the right nutrient source at the right rate, time, and place. This strategy is central to improving fertilizer use efficiency and to agriculture’s ability to meet production needs without jeopardizing environmental quality.

The theme of the IPNI Board Meeting was “global science to local impact” and accurately captures the two-tiered tactical approach employed by IPNI. Its scientists live in the regions they serve where they manage programs dedicated to local impact…to increasing food production…but are tightly networked through global working groups focused on major global plant nutrition themes.

Members of IPNI include: Agrium Inc.; Arab Fertilizer Association; Arab Potash Company; Belarusian Potash Company; Bunge Fertilizantes S.A.; Canadian Fertilizer Institute; CF Industries Holdings, Inc.; Groupe OCP; Incitec Pivot; International Fertilizer Industry Association; International Potash Institute; Intrepid Mining, LLC; K+S KALI GmbH; The Mosaic Company; PotashCorp; Saskferco; Simplot; Sinofert Holdings Limited; SQM; Terra Industries Inc.; The Fertilizer Institute; and Uralkali.

For further information, please contact Dr. Terry L. Roberts at IPNI: tel. 1.770.447.0335; e-mail: troberts@ipni.net.

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