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A multi-year phosphorus flow analysis of a key agricultural region in Australia to identify options for sustainable management

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  • Chowdhury, Rubel Biswas
  • Moore, Graham A.
  • Weatherley, Anthony J.

Abstract

This paper presents a comprehensive substance flow analysis (SFA) of phosphorus (P) for a six-year period (2008–13) in Gippsland, a key agricultural region of Australia with high economic and environmental significance. The analysis has revealed that around 71% (10,904t) of the mean annual total inflow of P was stored in this region. This finding is different from other published regional scale SFAs, where more than 50% of the P in annual total inflow eventually left the region. Per capita P inflow in Gippsland is also found substantially higher compared to available SFAs. In Gippsland, the annual inflow of P primarily occurred as commercial fertilizer (66% or 10,263t) and livestock feed (29% or 4443t), and the outflow mainly occurred as livestock products (94% or 4181t); while the majority (66% or 7218t) of the P storage occurred in soils of the livestock farming area. A comparative analysis of the magnitude of P flow in different subsystems indicates that more than 80% of the annual total inflow, outflow, and storage of P in this region is associated with the livestock (mainly dairy and meat cattle) farming subsystem. For the Gippsland region as a whole and almost all subsystems, significant annual variations in the magnitudes of P inflow, outflow, storage and internal flow have been observed. Between 2008 and 2013, both the annual total inflow (mainly as commercial fertilizer) and the annual total storage (mainly in soils) of P in this region showed a substantial decrease (41% and 54% of the 2008 level, respectively), while the annual total outflow (mainly as livestock and crop products) remained nearly the same, indicating an improvement towards sustainable P management. Despite such a positive sign, there is still adequate room for improvement. This analysis indicates that over the study period, about 65,424t P were accumulated (mainly as soil storage) that is approximately six times the mean annual P inflow as commercial fertilizer in this region; while approximately 3241t P lost as soil erosion and runoff, indicating substantial adverse economic and environmental implications. Based on the findings of the current analysis, this paper outlines a wide range of policy and management interventions to reduce the downstream loss of P and other nutrients as well as the region's dependency on imported commercial fertilizers and grain based feed. This paper also presents new criteria for data quality analysis and a set of P concentration data of various materials that could be readily utilized in future SFAs of P at any geographical scale. This paper suggests that considering the inter-annual variations in P flow as assessed in this SFA, future research should focus on identifying the influence of socio-environmental, technological and political factors on the magnitude P flow in Gippsland.

Suggested Citation

  • Chowdhury, Rubel Biswas & Moore, Graham A. & Weatherley, Anthony J., 2018. "A multi-year phosphorus flow analysis of a key agricultural region in Australia to identify options for sustainable management," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 42-60.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:agisys:v:161:y:2018:i:c:p:42-60
    DOI: 10.1016/j.agsy.2017.12.005
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Andrea E. Ulrich & Ewald Schnug, 2013. "The Modern Phosphorus Sustainability Movement: A Profiling Experiment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 5(11), pages 1-23, October.
    2. Geneviève Metson & Rimjhim Aggarwal & Daniel L. Childers, 2012. "Efficiency Through Proximity," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 16(6), pages 914-927, December.
    3. Yuan, Zengwei & Liu, Xin & Wu, Huijun & Zhang, Ling & Bi, Jun, 2011. "Anthropogenic phosphorus flow analysis of Lujiang County, Anhui Province, Central China," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 222(8), pages 1534-1543.
    4. Dunchao Ma & Shanying Hu & Dingjiang Chen & Yourun Li, 2013. "The Temporal Evolution of Anthropogenic Phosphorus Consumption in China and Its Environmental Implications," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 17(4), pages 566-577, August.
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    Cited by:

    1. Sunita Kumari Meena & Brahma Swaroop Dwivedi & Mahesh Chand Meena & Saba Prasad Datta & Vinod Kumar Singh & Rajendra Prasad Mishra & Debashish Chakraborty & Abir Dey & Vijay Singh Meena, 2022. "Long-Term Nutrient Supply Options: Strategies to Improve Soil Phosphorus Availability in the Rice-Wheat System," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-15, July.
    2. Augusto Bianchini & Jessica Rossi, 2020. "An Integrated Industry-Based Methodology to Unlock Full-Scale Implementation of Phosphorus Recovery Technology," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(24), pages 1-17, December.

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