WHEN DOES 1 + 1 ≠ 2?

Higher level math teaches us that one plus one does not always equal two. As in math, we often see response to two nutrients applied together greater than the individual response of each separately. In other words, “X can be greater than the sum of its parts”.

The same principle applies to strategic partners. IPNI is successful because of the strategic partners and collaborators we work with. We are a small organization with 32 scientists working across the globe. But in the last 25 years, we have supported almost 2,200 research projects related to nutrient management. We provide ideas and a little seed money and find willing partners to work with. Those 2,200 projects cost us over $13 million, but the total cost of the projects was more than 10 times that.

We leave the “hands-on” research to our academic colleagues and other partners, who have the expertise, the laboratories, and field equipment and we use our expertise in extending the results they generate, in translating and teaching the practical applications to the end-users. Our partners do the research and we tell their stories. It’s a great partnership, with each partner contributing to their strengths.

The benefits of working together are extraordinary and greatly rewarding. Agriculture is the beneficiary. The sum of our contribution plus that of our partners is much greater than either of us alone.

When it comes to fertilizers and ag research … one plus one is a lot more than two.


Terry L. Roberts
President IPNI