Interview to Ermis Panagiotopoulos, responsible of agriculture and environingingment of Fertilizers Europe

The association Fertilizers Europe, considered like the source of information of the sector from his foundation does already 25 years, represents to the majority of the producers of fertilizantes mineral of Europe. This industry, aims Ermis Panagiotopoulos, responsible of agriculture and environingingment of the association, “enjoys of good health”, but confronts to two big challenges: the high price of the gas, main prime matter for the manufacture of fertilizantes, and the strict industrial rule and environingingmental.

Treats of a sector that, in his group, enjoys of good health and of modern and able installations to cater the best fertilizantes to all the agriculturalists. Nevertheless, the European industry confronts to two challenges of enormous transcendence that affect and will affect to our future development.

The high price of the gas, main prime matter for the fertilizantes. It supposes an enormous factor of distortion of the competition in front of producing countries of gas, with subsidized gas or, in the future, in front of the new alternative as they are the shale gas, whose system of obtaining is not allowed in the European Union.

The strict industrial rule and environingingmental, that does that our competitors have a new competitive advantage in terms of his application and economic cost. These two factors, in my opinion, are those that do that the European industry confront to a fierce competition of third countries.

The manufacturers of fertilizantes European are the most efficient of the world regarding the utilisation of power. Besides, the European industry is subjected to the controls of environingingmental impact more rigorous, so much regarding the pollution of the air as of the waters. Also it is the one who uses the best available technologies in the manufacture, the calls Best Available Techniques, BAT. Definitely, can affirm that the European industry is the one who more has invested in quality, hygiene and respect by the environingingment and that, therefore, caters to the agriculturalists of the most efficient products and insurance. But also the European industry has invested effort and resources in investigation and, especially, in the divulging of the best practical of fertilisation.

The fertilizantes are fundamental to work in the achievement of greater performances of the crops, as it requires the current European agriculture, since they contribute to resupply to the humanity of his needs of food and power. The world-wide authorities in feeding have recognised numerous times that without fertilizantes can not reach the performances that the humanity needs to feed to a global population in growth.

The European industry has purchased the commitment to develop and produce new products and help in the application of the best agricultural technicians, that increase the productivity and sustainability of the European agriculture. And create me, in the achievement of this aim, the companies of Fertilizers Europe do not dribble efforts neither investments. It works actively in completing the politics of Product Stewardship, with a narrow collaboration with the agricultural community and with all the operators of the chain of feeding, for maximizar the efficiency of the use of the nutrients and reduce the footprint of carbon in the production of foods.

Program Tutela of Product, Product Stewardship

Like commitment with the agriculturalists and the society in general, Fertilizers Europe developed the program Tutela of Product, Product Stewardship, that moves to a group of norms the responsible performance, the dilated experience and the continuous investigation carried out during years by the big European producers of fertilizantes associated in Fertilizers Europe. This program engages them to the fill of some “very rigorous standards” of quality, hygiene and respecto by the environingingment, in all the steps of the cycle of life of the fertilizantes.

The day will centre in the analysis of the agricultural and environingingmental impact of the utilisation of distinct types of fertilizantes nitrogenous and the advantages of the fertilizantes DAN, with nitrogen directly assimilable. I will present the campaign DAN and the reasons that have driven to carry out an initiative of this type to all the European producers.

The day will explain also with participation of the doctor Frank Brentrup, Senior Scientist of the Centre of Investigation of Yara in Hanninghof (Germany), that will speak on the implication of the fertilizantes under the concept DAN. In definite, the day versará on the efficiency of the use of the nitrates in the agriculture and his lower environingingmental impact. It is headed to agricultural companies, cooperative agroalimentarias, distributors of fertilizantes, public servicys, researchers and all that that was involved in the process of production and utilisation of this type of products.

Any activity has an undoubted effect on the environingingment and, of course, a responsible industry has to work to treat to increase the positive effects and minimise the possible adverse effects. The distinct fertilizantes have impacts agronómicos and environingingmental different, thus the companies members of Fertilizers Europe work with the convencimiento that application of the fertilizante suitable, in the correct dose, in the place and the ideal moment, is essential to attain good performances and crops of quality. The agricultural best practices and the best fertilizantes contribute to satisfy the requirements agronómicas and environingingmental of the modern agriculture.

The fertilizantes with nitrogen directly assimilable (DAN) have been used historically in Europe and have resulted to be the most effective. They are those that contain in his composition nitric nitrogen and amoniacal, both directly assimilable forms by the crops, in comparison to the based in urea, that need to suffer a process of transformation to be assimilated by the crops during which produce upper losses to 50%.

The nitrate amónico, that contains nitrogen amoniacal and nitric nitrogen in the same proportion; the nitrate amónico calcic, with nitrogen amoniacal and amónico and, besides, dolomita or limestone, and the nitrosulfato amónico, product that, in addition to nitrogen amoniacal and nitric, contains a third nutritious element, the sulphur.

The process of manufacture of the nitrates is the neutralisation of the nitric acid with ammonia to obtain nitrates amónicos of different contents in nitrogen. For the obtaining of nitrates amónico calcic, adds limestone or dolomita and result products with variable contents in calcium and magnesium. The nitrosulfato amónico is a double salt, mix of sulphate amónico and nitrate amónico, that has a content in nitrogen of 26% in shape of nitrate amónico. It is the only fertilizante that contributes nitrate and sulphate like double salt, with high solubility and assimilation by the plants.

Fertilizantes With nitrogen directly assimilable (DAN)

Advantages:

• More profitable and effective
• Have lower footprint of carbon during his cycle of life
• His performance in the floor is perfectly controllable
• Present lower risks of volatilisation and leaching.

The fertilizantes DAN are perfectly adapted to our climate and are essential to attain a more efficient use of the earths of European crop. They combine the characteristics of the two forms of nitrogen simpler, nitrate and ammonium, that use directly the plants. As it commented, other forms like the urea, that has to transform in the floor to nitrate to be assimilated, are less efficient since his transformation generates important losses to the environingingment. The losses of urea by volatilisation and his lower efficiency in nitrogen have to compensate with greater doses, what is hurtful for the environingingment.

Exact. On the other hand, the process of transformation of nitrogen ureico (no assimilable by the crops) to nitrate (totally assimilable) depends on conditions of temperature and humidity of the floor and of the environingingment and is, therefore, difficult to predict. The nitric forms-amoniacales are directly assimilable, and the agriculturalist knows perfectly that when it applies them the crop takes advantage of them immediately.

Fertilizers Europe

The association Fertilizers Europe relates with a big number of institutions, legislators, public in general and other interested that look for information on technologies in matter of fertilisation and on the current challenges of the agriculture, environingingmental and economic. Also it facilitates the sectorial statistics that use in the European institutions and other international organisms that decide on the agricultural and industrial politics. “The relations with all the European community devoted direct and indirectly to the agriculture have been from always excellent and of total collaboration in plough to work in the improvement of the competitiveness of the agriculture”, sustains Panagiotopoulos.