Publications

Fertilizing Crops to Improve Human Health: A Scientific Review

Since 1948, World Health Organization has defined human health as "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity." A large proportion of humanity depends for its sustenance on the food production increases brought about through the application of fertilizers to crops. Fertilizer contributes to both the quantity and quality of the food produced. Used in the proper way-applying the right source at the right rate, time and place-and on the right crops, it contributes immensely to the health and well-being of humanity. Therefore, sustainable agricultural development and sustainable fertilizer use must increasingly focus on nourishing human health, towards a goal of healthy and productive lives for all in the context of a burgeoning world population. While the current role of fertilizers in supporting human health is large, the opportunities to expand it even further are also substantial. The International Plant Nutrition Institute (IPNI) and International Fertilizer Industry Association (IFA) have joined hands to produce a Scientific Review on Fertilizing Crops to Improve Human Health, which is comprised of 11 chapters within three themed sections: Food and Nutrition Security, Functional Foods, and Risk Reduction.

Frontiers in Potassium Nutrition

This 174-page, 20-chapter publication includes papers from a 1996 symposium sponsored by PPI-PPIC and the American Society of Agronomy. The first section covers basic perspectives focusing on how potassium movement across plant cell membranes and within the plant is both facilitated and regulated and also how potassium status interacts with basic aspects of cell function. The second section focuses on developing a new and fuller understanding of how potassium nutrition and cultural management interact with crop plant performance and quality factors.