Phosphorus , Life and Environment, From Research to Application

Ghent (Belgium), 8-11 September 1992
Proceedings edited by IMPHOS

This is the fourth international IMPHOS conference which was considered then an up-to-date review of progress made in phosphorus research. The conference has also set out to identify future research avenues that are likely to advance/fill gaps in our knowledge, as these would become evident from various papers.

The proceedings include papers on Phosphorus and Agriculture, Phosphorus and Nutrition, Phosphorus and Environment, Phosphatic Fertilization and Ecotoxicology of heavy metals, and rationale for Phosphatic Fertilization.

The important issues underlined in the different sessions are as follows :

The need to control and optimize the use and application of phosphatic fertilizers : Indeed, a balance needs to be established between plant requirement and the rate, form, and method of fertilizer application. While the requirement for phosphate fertilizer is far from being met in many less developed countries,   waste and excess applications should be avoided in the industrialized world. In both cases, the law of   diminishing return should be considered.

The concern for environment protection has been the focus of the mass-media, the public, the industry, and the governments.

In this context, a special attention had to be directed towards:

	A higher efficiency of fertilizer use
	A better mobilization and efficient use of accumulated soil reserves
	The prevention of detrimental effects resulting from excess obnoxious secondary elements that may be present as impurities, e.g. cadmium and Fluorine. It must be noted that phosphate fertilizers added only 6% of total cadmium input to soil in general.

This conference was attended by about 250 participants from 38 mainly European countries. They represented different disciplines and interests in relation to the theme of the conference : educators, students, researchers, members of agricultural associations and phosphate industrialists.

Copies of the Proceedings are available for IMPHOS upon request.