IFPRI 2020 Panel Discussion "Nourishing Plants and People New Insights on How Fertilizers Affect Agriculture Nutrition, & Health" by Dr. Welch

1. Soils For Health: Enhancing Human Nutrition from the Ground Up Ross M. Welch USDA-ARS Robert Holley Center for Agriculture & Health Department of Crop & Soil Sciences Cornell University

2. Why Does Agriculture Exist? To produce food and fiber and provide livelihoods to farmers and profits to the agricultural and food industries alone? Why do we need “food”? – Nutrients! Agriculture is the primary source of all essential minerals and vitamins required for human life! Farmers are nutrient providers! If food systems, based in agriculture, cannot provide all the essential nutrients in adequate quantities to sustain human life during all seasons, diseases ensue, societies suffer and development efforts stagnate.

4. Nutritionists tend to emphasize unsustainable medical approaches to solve malnutrition problems

5. supplements

6. food fortificants

7. These strategies do not address the underlying causes of malnutrition - dysfunctional food systems based in agricultural systems that do not have a goal of promoting human health

8. Simplistic views are the norm – looking for “silver bullet” approaches for solutions

10. Fertilizer Approaches to "Healthier" Food Crops Fertilizer Practices Macronutrient fertilizers (form and application method) N, P, K, S, Ca, Mg effects protein, fats, vitamins, antinutrients, promoters, etc. Micronutrient & trace element fertilizers (form and application method) Zn, Se, Co, I, Ni, Mo, Li, Cl - effective in increasing amount in plant seeds and grains Fe, Cu, Mn, B, Cr, V, Si - not very effective in increasing seed or grain levels

12. Greater seedling vigor

13. Denser stands (less soil erosion)

14. Lower seeding rates (lower seeding cost to farmers)

15. Larger root absorptive surface (better water & nutrient use efficiency)

16. Better resistance to disease

17. Better plant survival

19. Effect of Foliar Applied Selenate and Selenite on the Se Level in Field Grown Polished Rice Grain Se applied Grain yieldaSe in graina Se treatment(Se g ha-1) (kg plot-1) (g g-1) Control 0 24.05 ± 2.16a 0.071 ± 0.002a Selenite 20 24.54 ± 5.15a 0.471 ± 0.134b Selenate 20 23.78 ± 0.45a 0.640 ± 0.191c aValues are means of three determinations ± standard deviation. Values followed by a different letter in each column are significantly different (P < 0.05). Consumption of 400 g per day of the high-Se rice would provide 200 g Se. (Data from Chen et al., J. Agric. Food Chem. 50: 5128-5130, 2002)

21. 1989 1.60

22. 1991 1.58< 1 mole L-1 serum-Se related to increased cancer risk. (Data from Makela et al., Biol. Trace Element Res. 36: 151-157, 1993)

23. Effects of Zinc Fertilization on Wheat Yield & Grain-Zn Level Zn application Zn concentration Increases in yield by Zn Fertilizer methods Whole shoot Grain Whole shoot Grain - 1 (mg kg (%) ) 100 Control 10 10 - Soil 19 18 109 265 Seed 12 10 79 204 Foliar 60 27 40 124 69 35 92 250 Soil + foliar 73 29 83 268 Seed + foliar Using both soil and foliar Zn fertilizers can maximize grain yields and grain-zinc Yilmaz et al., 1997

24. Agriculture’s Agenda For Better Health (Congressional Briefing) Item 1:Declare a goal of agriculture to produce high quality food that promotes human health and well-being in sustainable ways. Item 2: Design seeds,cropping & livestock systems that help achieve primary goal—design for maximum nutrient output of farming systems. Item 3:Genetically modify food crops, increasing nutritional and health while promoting crop productivity (biofortification). Item 4:Use agronomic practices (e.g., fertilizers and cropping systems)to improve nutrient output of farming systems. Item 5:Define sustainable agriculture, as agriculture that yields “healthy foods” for healthy and productive people!