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Fertilizer

The hydroponic tomato plants at Ráječek Farm rely on manufactured fertilizer to grow.

War in Ukraine sparks fertilizer crisis that may impact the future of global food production

Ukraine

Russia is the world’s largest fertilizer producer, but fewer Russian agricultural products are entering the global market due to the war in Ukraine. It’s changing how farmers and fertilizer suppliers are thinking about agriculture.

Poop from the rhinoceros beetle makes for cleaner fertilizer. 

This Colombian company is trying to convince farmers to use beetle poop fertilizer

Climate Change
At the La Perseverancia market in Bogotá, Colombia customers have noticed that prices for many foods are increasing. With the war in Ukraine, inflation could get worse.

For developing countries, the war in Ukraine means even higher food prices

Food
Two people are shown next to a water-filled ditch with a grassy field on either side.

We’re not fixing this environmental crisis. Could one ditch show us the way?

Growing Food, Sowing Trouble
A shrimp boat is shown in a illustration that combines the boat with a map of the Mississippi Delta.

Gulf shrimpers fight for their livelihoods in a fertilizer-fueled dead zone

Growing Food, Sowing Trouble
A farm tractor is shown in a large green field with wind turbines in the background.

Farming’s growing problem

Growing Food, Sowing Trouble

Fertilizers are contaminating and warming the planet. Regulators haven’t acted on decades-old warnings.

Cyanobacteria, or "green slime," is wreaking havoc with Lake Erie's water supplies and fishing industries. The outbreaks are caused largely by runoff of fertilizers and other nutrients from farms, and they're a growing problem in the Great Lakes and aroun

In the fight against green slime on Lake Erie, farmers try to clean up their act

Environment

Nasty green slime poisoned water in Ohio last summer, and it’s becoming a regular thing in the region — and around the world. The problem is agricultural pollution, but some Ontario farmers are trying to try to cut back on the pollution that leads to the slime.

At least five dead after fertilizer plant blast rocks Texas town

Global Politics

A fertilizer plant in the small town of West, Texas, some 20 miles north of Waco, exploded Thursday evening, killing between five and fifteen people so far, with that number only expected to rise. A five-block area around the plant was devastated.

China faces desertification

Development & Education

Decades of clearing forests, overusing water resources, and climate change have brought desert conditions to what was once Chinese farmland.

How manure can save humanity

Business, Economics and Jobs

High oil and gas prices are driving up the price of chemical fertilizer. One man believes manure management could save humanity from the crisis.