What are the challenges that agriculture faces as aresult of climate change? We talk to Piotr Maciak, Sales Director, Central Europe of Nordkalk

NO ONE IS ARGUING WITH THE FACT THAT WE ARE ALREADY WITNESSING GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE. HOW DOES THIS AFFECT THE ACTIVITY OF THE FERTILIZER MANUFACTURER?

Indeed, climate change and related extreme weather events have a huge impact on agriculture. We are already feeling this very acutely in Poland – we are a country where water resources are shrinking rapidly due to lack of rainfall and record high temperatures. In terms of natural water resources, we occupy the penultimate place in Europe, so I am afraid we will hear the term “hydrological drought” more and more often. However, I would like to stress that agriculture is not only the victim of climate change, but unfortunately it also contributes to it, for example through the emission of greenhouse gases associated with farming, excessively intensive exploitation of soils or inappropriate fertilization, which results, among other things, in nitrate and phosphate infiltration into water systems. The Baltic Sea is dying of eutrophication! Therefore, I believe that the role of the fertilizer manufacturer is nowadays to provide the market with innovative natural fertilizers that will not only improve the absorption of nutrients by plants, but will counteract the uncontrolled release of harmful substances into the soil, water and atmosphere. An example of such an innovative product is the granulated lime fertilizer AtriGran Humic, one of the advantages of which is that it helps to maintain the optimum water capacity of the soil, which gives plants the chance to survive dry periods.

I SUPPOSE THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING?

Of course, the innovative product should be followed by application solutions tailored to the real needs of a particular area. We are talking about the so-called precision farming, the aim of which is to recognize the differences in soil properties and yielding capacity in different parts of the field. Distributors play an invaluable role in this process – the better they know the characteristics of products and the possibilities of their application in agrotechnology, the more accurate they can choose the type of fertilizer and the doses for individual crops. The effect of synergy between the manufacturer, distributor and the farmer is sustainable agriculture, offering healthy products, while at the same time recreating the production potential of the environment managed for cultivation with optimal financial outlays. I also anticipate that agriculture will move towards “circular economy” and develop the area of converting waste into safe nutrients for crops in the socalled “closed loop”

Last Updated on March 23, 2021 by Karolina Ampulska