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Summary
India consumed just under 57 million tonnes of fertilizers in 2018/19, cementing its position as the world's second largest fertilizer marketplace. MP Sukumaran Nair provides an update on the country's fertilizer industry, its continuing import reliance and the strong influence of government policy.Abstract
Self-sufficiency in food grains Fertilizers have played a major role in the success of India’s ‘green revolution’ – the transformational improvement in crop productivity seen over the last forty years – and the subcontinent’s subsequent attainment of self-reliance in food grain production by 2000. Greater fertilizer consumption has undoubtedly contributed significantly to this step change and the sustainable production of food grains in the country. Keywords: Country report, India, Agriculture, Food, Cereals, Grains, Fertilizers, Imports, Consumption, Production, NP, NPK, Urea, DAP, Diammonium, Phosphate, Potash, Government, Policy, Polices, Subsidies, Nutrient based subsidy scheme, NBS, Administered price scheme, APS, Direct Benefit Transfer, DPTSummary
Rice is one of the world's most popular food staples, providing around one-fifth of the total global calorific value of human diets. Cultivation and consumption is particularly prevalent in Asian countries. We look at the nutrient needs of this widely-grown cereal.Abstract
Rice (Oryza sativa) is the primary food staple for more than half of the world’s population. More than 3.5 billion people depend on rice for more than 20 percent of their calorific intake – with Asia, South America and sub-Saharan Africa being the largest rice-consuming regions globally. Keywords: Crop nutrition, Rice, Growing, Cultivation, Production, India, China, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Fertilization, Fertilizers, Applications, Rates, Nutrients, Management, Deficiency, Requirements, Needs, Yield, Recommendations, Nitrogen, Potassium, Phosphorus, Sulphur, Zinc, Boron, Iron, Manganese, CalciumSummary
With more than 15 million hectares of land watered by drip irrigation globally, the technology's agricultural potential remains enormous. Fertigation – the ability to manage and regulate both water and plant nutrients – is a key advantage helping drive worldwide growth.Abstract
In June 2012, David Hillel, an Israeli scientist who pioneered an innovative way of efficiently delivering water to crops in arid and semi-arid regions, was awarded the World Food Prize. The method Hillel helped develop, drip irrigation, supplies water directly to plant roots in small amounts – dramatically cutting crop water requirements and at the same time boosting crop yields. Keywords: Irrigation, Drip irrigation, Micro-irrigation, Trickle irrigation, Flood irrigation, Furrow irrigation, Sprinkler irrigation, Water use efficiency, Fertigation, Water soluble, Liquid, Fertilizers, Sugarcane, Rice, Cotton, Soft fruits, Fruit, Trees, Row crops, Projects, Investment, International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage, ICID, Netafim, Jain, JISL, China, India, Israel, Spain, United States, CaliforniaSummary
Russia's urea research & design institute, NIIK, introduces the Foam Hydrofilter – a completely new type of wet scrubber for air pollution control at urea plants. The Hydrofilter offers the same operational efficiency as many conventional scrubbing systems while avoiding many of their drawbacks.Abstract
Background For the fertilizer industry nowadays, the control of air pollution during urea production is a particular challenge because of the significant potential health and environment impacts. The need to pay special attention to this issue and prioritise pollution treatment is therefore well understood. Keywords: Pollution control technology, NIIK, Urea, Production , Plants, Innovation, Equipment, Wet Scrubbing, Scrubber, Dust, Pollutants, Gas stream, Emissions, Foam Hydrofilter, RussiaSummary
We look at safety, health and environmental (SHE) management and hazards at nitrogen fertilizer plants and the importance of the International Fertilizer Association's 'Protect & Sustain' certification scheme.Abstract
Catastrophic events in the chemical process industries are categorised as “low-probability, high-consequence occurrences”. These naturally receive a huge amount of media attention at the time. Keywords: Safety, Management, Fertilizer, Nitrogen, Production, Plants, Urea, Ammonia, safety, health and environmental, Improvement, Product stewardship, IFA, International Fertilizer Association, Protect Sustain, Certification audits, Catastrophic, Incidents, Accidents, Injuries, Fatalities, Major, Investigation, Disaster, Hazards, Risk, Register, SHE, Stamicarbon, Fatima Fertilizer, Ureaknowhow.com, Portal, DatabaseSummary
We look at state-of-the-art technology used in phosphate and potash mining, including equipment and systems for excavation, tailings thickening, transport, tunnelling and processing.Abstract
The Barracuda excavator: hard mining made easy Germany’s thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions (tkIS) introduced its new Barracuda range of bucket wheel excavators in 2016. These compact mining machines use a larger number of teeth per bucket to cut materials with a uniaxial compressive strength of up to 50 MPa. The Barracuda’s innovative design allows harder material to be excavated, including phosphate rock, potash and limestone, without the need for drilling or blasting operations. Keywords: Mining, Technology, equipment, phosphate, potash, tailings, Dry, Dewatering, Filters, presses, Centrifuges, Vacuum, Disk, Pan, Horizontal belt, Colossal, Paste, Thickening, Thickeners, Excavation, Bucket wheel, Barracuda, Excavators, Rail, Wagons, Tunnelling, Mining machines, Load haul dump, LHD, Loaders, Flexible conveyor trains, FCTs, Continuous miners, CMs, Ural-20R, Kopeysk, National Steel Car, DMC Mining Services, United Wagon, Thyssenkrupp, tkIS, FLSmidth, Weir Minerals, EuroChem, Sirius Minerals, K+SSummary
Newly-developed froth flotation schemes, equipment and reagents are improving selectivity and the grade and recovering of phosphate concentratesAbstract
JESA TECHNOLOGIES Two-stage flotation optimises performance Reverse double flotation Most sedimentary and igneous phosphate ores contain unwanted impurities that need to be removed prior to chemical processing. Froth flotation is currently the most economical beneficiation technique for separation and removal of impurities from phosphates around the world. Keywords: Mineral beneficiation, Innovation, Technology, Equipment, Froth, Flotation, Column, Pneumatic, Reagents, Pilot plant, Tests, Testing, Two-stage, Reverse, Double, Phosphate, Apatite, Carbonate, Silica, Collectors, Grade, Recovery, Eriez, EFD, Allminerals, Allflot, JESA, Worley, Nouryon, Gemini, AllflotSummary
Concerns are growing about the health impacts of the heavy metals present in phosphate-based fertilizers and their accumulation in soils. In response, regulators and international agencies are currently seeking to limit human exposure to these potentially harmful elements. Encouragingly, a number of sustainable options with minimal market impacts are available, as Mikhail Pleschev, Boris Levin and Juan von Gernet of PhosAgro explain.Abstract
The fertilizer industry will need to change in the years ahead. Adapting to increasing consumer concerns about what goes into the food they eat will be a particular challenge. In response to this, regulators are starting to demand that fertilizers – as essential providers of crop nutrients – do not also introduce potentially harmful elements like cadmium and other heavy metals into soils and plants. Meeting this challenge is both necessary and possible, in our view, as everyone will benefit from the ultimate outcome – a more sustainable and healthier food production system. Keywords: Industry viewpoint, Phosphates, Phosphorus, Fertilizers, PhosAgro, Cadmium, Limits, Risk, Exposure, Human, Health, Heavy metals, Arsenic, Soil, Water, Crops, Agriculture, Food, Safety, EU, Fertilising products, Regulation, Legislation, Framework, Russia, UN, FAO, Code of conduct, Guidelines, Production, Standards, Trade, Policy, Imports