The global shortage of mineral fertilizer — a key contributor to the food crisis — has led many to wonder whether it might be possible to scale-up organic options instead.
But organics will not be able to do the job alone, Douglas Kerr, the vice president at the International Fertilizer Development Center, said in an interview at Devex World last month.
The price of mineral, or synthetic, fertilizers was spiking even before the war in Ukraine and is worsening now. Russia is a major producer, and the war has also affected the price of coal and gas, which are needed for the production of fertilizer.