Fertiliser use in Spain keeps adapting to the crops' nutritional needs and the requirements for the achievement of a long-term sustainable agriculture. After several years of unsatisfactory results due to lack of nutrients, and given the need to counter the deficiencies caused by the land's exhaustion, growers have managed to optimise its use over the course of last year's campaign.
According to data provided by the National Association of Fertiliser Manufacturers (ANFFE), fertiliser use in Spain has grown by 16% during the latest campaign and is returning to levels that were common in 2008, the year when a sharp worldwide drop in consumption took place.
Spain is one of the four EU regions with the largest use of fertilisers, fundamentally due to its condition as one of Europe's largest agricultural producers; although it is worth noting that the fertiliser dosage per hectare in Spain is lower to that in other EU countries.
Regarding the regional distribution of fertiliser use in Spain, the regions of Castile-Leon, Andalusia and Castile-La Mancha are the three largest users, as they are also the areas with the biggest production of cereals, which require large amounts of fertilisers.
The new technological advances allow for a more precise application of the nutrients, adapting them also to the agroclimatic conditions of the land.
These technical improvements make it possible for growers to obtain an increasingly more sustainable production, both in the economic, the environmental and the social sense, as it results in greater production volumes, a more efficient use of the products and the development of agricultural areas. This sustainability is closely linked with good agricultural practices and the rational use of fertilisers, which has also made it possible for CO2 emissions to the atmosphere to be reduced.
Source: vidarural.es