Fertilizer Definitions, Classifications

& Computations

Fertilizer definitions

• Fertilizers are manures, chemicals and minerals that supply one or more essential plant nutrients

2 categories

• Organic fertilizers

• Inorganic fertilizers (or chemical or mineral fertilizers)

•

Essential elements for fertilizers

Primary Nutrients

N: nitrogen

– Green color, increasedgrowth and better yields

P: phosphorus

– Makes young plants strong, create healthyroots

K: potash

– Produces good seedsand fruits, makes plants disease resistant

Element Expressed as :

Carbon Hydrogen Oxygen

C H O

Primary Nutrients

Nitrogen Phosphorus Potassium

N P2O5 K2O

Secondary nutrients

Sulphur Calcium Magnesium

S CaO MgO

Micronutrients

Boron Copper Iron Zinc

B Cu Fe Zn

How to remember the plant nutrients …

• CONCRETE FOUNDATION = Primary Nutrients

Nitrogen, Phosphate and Potassium

• BRICKS = Secondary Nutrients

Calcium, Magnesium and Sulfur

• PLASTER = Micronutrients

Iron, Copper, Boron, Manganese, Zinc, Chlorine and Molybdenum

Forms of inorganic fertilizers

Fertilizer class Description Examples

Straight

Fertilizers

These fertilizers have known content of one

of the three Primary nutrients, N, P & K

Urea

AS

Compound

Fertilizers

The fertilizers have more than one of the

three primary nutrients, (NP, NK, PK & NPK)

DAP

NPK 15 15 15

Ca, Mg, Na, S

FertilizersThey are not NPKs but are plant nutrients

Inorganic soil

conditioners

Liming materials. Contains one or two

elements Ca & MgGypsum

Manufactured with pre-determined quantities of N P K’s

Fertilizer grades

• The grade of a fertilizer refers to the guaranteed minimum percentage(s) of the nutrients it has

Example : Diammonium Phosphate (DAP) contains 18% N and 46% P2O5 so the grade for DAP is 18-46-0.

• A compound that contains α% of N, β % of P and µ% of K is graded α-β-µ.

• Typical nutrient content for commonly usedfertilizers

• Reading labels of fertilizerbags

Conversion table for common fertilizers

FERTILIZERS N P2O5 K2O

Nitrogen Fertilizers

Ammonium nitrate 33.5

Ammonium sulphate 21

Anhydrous ammonia 82

Calcium ammonium nitrate 26

Calcium nitrate 15.5

Sodium nitrate 16

Urea 46

Urea ammonium nitrate 32

Phosphate Fertilizers

Basic slag 14

Rock phosphate 20-40

Single superphosphate 18

Triple superphosphate 46

Ammonium polyphosphate 10 34

Di ammonium phosphate 18 46

Mono ammonium phosphate 11 52

Potash Fertilizers

Potassium chloride 60

Potassium chloride with

magnesium

40

Potassium sulphate 50

Potassium magnesium sulphate 22 or 30

Potassium nitrate 13 47

Complex Fertilizers

NPK fertilizers 5-25 5-25 5-25

NP fertilizers 15-25 15-25 0

NK fertilizers 13-25 0 15-46

PK fertilizers 0 7-30 10-30

Some HS codes for fertilizers

31 – fertilizers

3101 – organic fertilizers

3102 – nitrogenous fert [N]

3103 – phosphatic fert. [P]

3104 – potassic fert. [K]

3105 – compounds fert.

2510 – phosphate rock

2814 – ammonia

3102 10 Urea3102 21 Ammonium Sulphate3102 60 Calcium Nitrate3102 90 Other nitregenous Fert.

3103 10 Superphosphates3103 20 Basic Slag3103 90 Other Phosphatic Fert.

3104 20 Potassium Chloride (MoP)3104 30 Potassium Sulphate3104 90 Other Potassium Fert.

3105 10 NPK complex <= 10 kg3105 20 NPK complex > 10 kg3105 30 DAP3105 40 MAP3105 51 NP compounds3105 60 PK compounds

Remarks about HS codes for fertilizers

• Using the right HS codes is key to record good fertilizer statistics

• Original 6 digits

– Fertilizer categories : 4 first digits

– 8, 10 and sometimes 12 digit national codes

– In practice : up to 8 digits

• Major source of burden: NPK compounds [3105]

– Up to 60% of fertilizers used in African countries

– NPK <= 10 kg vs NPK > 10 kg

– Liquid fertilizers

Word of caution on fertilizer identification

• Some products which may be classified as fertilizers are not fertilizers per se.

• These are products which may be imported by the firm/organisation together with other fertilizers

• It may have been imported for non-agricultural use

Fueling the Green Revolution in AfricaFueling the Green Revolution in AfricaFueling the Green Revolution in Africa

FERTILIZER STATISTICS

The Fertilizer Resource Utilization Account

1. Fertilizer Production

2. Fertilizer Trade (Imports & Exports)

3. Fertilizer Consumption (Fertilizer utilisation)

4. Non-fertilizer use

All variables cconnected to each other through the Fertilizer Resource Utilization Account (FRUA)

Production (P) + Imports (M) – Exports (X)

– Non-Fertilizer use (NF) = Apparent Consumption (C)

P + M – X –NF = C

Why fertilizer statistics are important ?

Having such hard data helps all the fertilizer actors to:

• Financially plan ahead of the season

• Timeous ordering of fertilizers by traders

• Forecast future needs of inputs

• Intelligent purchasing by farmers

• Policy making

• Implementation of subsidy programs

Fueling the Green Revolution in AfricaFueling the Green Revolution in AfricaFueling the Green Revolution in Africa

IMPORTS / EXPORTS

Imports, exports & re-export

• Generally well documented by Customs

• Monthly tracking is normally required, quarterlytracking works well

• Info required

– Date (month / year)

– HS code

– Product description

– Gross and net weight

– CFR value (import) / FOB value (export)

– Country of origin / destination

– [when possible] importer/exporter

Dealing with re-export and raw mate

• Re-export

– If port is the point of entry; if bagged before re-exported

– Fertilizers in transit should not be recorded as imports or exports

• Raw materials

– Record phosphate rocks import or export by grade

Common situation in Africa

• HS and values well documented by Customs• Primary source: Customs• Supporting documents used: bills of lading,

manifests, (part of) Customs database

But! • Inaccurate volumes (containers, bags) before or

after conversion in MT• Inaccurate description of fertilizer product, and

nutrient contents• Aggregation of NPKs• Aggregation of products in case of multi-product

shipments

• Imports and exports

• Per productand per nutrient

• Per product: from IFA (no NPKs)

• Per nutrient: from FAO

Trade statistics on AfricaFertilizer.org

Annual Fertilizer Products Imports (ton/yr)2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Ammonium Nitrate 9,301 6,061 21,425 18,917 11,928

Ammonium Sulfate 2,381 8,571 2,381 1,429 476

Calcium Ammonium Nitrate 16,296 41,111 27,407 29,000

DAP 13,696 8,261 1,739 10,000

TSP 3,913

Urea 138,261 86,087 123,043 145,000 95,870

Total 163,639 129,189 189,699 202,753 137,274

Tanzania

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Nitrogen N 68,399 43,474 46,129 54,872 89,338

Phosphate P2O5 19,933 21,047 14,931 17,336 18,836

Potash K2O 7,805 6,341 9,006 10,341 7,886

NPK 96,137 70,862 70,066 82,549 116,060

Tanzania

Annual Fertilizer Nutrient Imports (ton/yr)

Consumption

Fertilizer Consumption data – difficult to collect

• Collecting consumption data from farmers– Ideally, should relate to quantities actually used by

farmers on crops.

– Difficult to apply as it requires costly surveys which cannot be conducted regularly.

• Collecting sales data from retail dealers – In general, farmers apply the fertilizers during the year

of purchase => sales at retail level = consumption.

– Difficult to organize on a regular basis

– Large numbers (from 500 to 10,000 per country)

– Not all retailers keep a proper record of their sales.

Consumption data from manufacturers and sales organizations

• In most countries, the consumption statistics are in fact the actual deliveries to agriculture by the manufacturers.

• Ideally

– Importers who deliver fertilizers directly to dealers should send a monthly report to a central agency

– With details by product and by region

• The sum of the sales from two sources (domestic and imported) represents overall consumption

Apparent consumption

• Apparent consumption = production + imports – exports –non fertilizer use.

• Formula implicitly assumes that stocks at the beginning and at the end of the period remain more or less unchanged.

• Works well for nutrients but doesn’t work for products when NPK are blended locally [case of Ghana] => we need to know grades and volumes of NPK blended !

• Monthlyreporting per product per manufacturer or importer

• Quantitiesand nutrients

• Whichtemplate isused in yourcountry ?

FAO template for production, stocks and domestic deliveries

• Reportingper dealer

• Quantitiesand pricesper product

• Whichtemplate isused in yourcountry ?

FAO template for dealer sales reports

• Last 4 years

• Per HS codes

• Per MT of products

• Domesticavailability

• Non fertilizeruse

• Use for cropproduction

FAO STAT template for consumption data

2814 Ammonia, anhydrous

310230 Ammonium nitrate

310221 Ammonium sulphate

310240 Calcium ammonium nitrate

310210 Urea

310280Urea and ammonium nitrate

solutions

31031010 Superphosphate above 35% X X X X

31031090 Superphosphate other X X X X

2510 Phosphate rock

310420 Potassium chloride

310430 Potassium sulphate

310530 Diammonium phosphate (DAP) X X X X

310540 Monoammonium phosphate (MAP) X X X X

310551

and

310559

Other NP compounds X X X X

310510

and

310520

NPK complex X X X X

310510

and

310520

NPK blends X X X X

2005 2006 20072006 2008 2005 2006 2007

STRAIGHT NITROGENOUS FERTILIZERS

● The time reference period is calendar year.

● Please report data in Metric Tons. If a different unit is used please indicate it, as well as any other relevant note specific to a given data, in the NOTES column.

● For item descriptions and for other important instructions please refer to the "Explanatory notes" and "Instructions" sheets.

FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS - STATISTICS DIVISION

AGRICULTURAL RESOURCES - FERTILIZER UTILIZATION

DOMESTIC AVAILABILITY

(metric tons of product)

NON FERTILIZER USE (including feed use)

(metric tons of products)

USED FOR CROP PRODUCTION

(metric tons of product)

NOTES

e.g. different year

used, different unit

used, preliminary

data reported, etc.2005 2007 2008 2008

HS

CODECOMMODITY

E F G

STRAIGHT PHOSPHATIC FERTILIZERS

STRAIGHT POTASSIC

FERTILIZERS

COMPOUND FERTILIZERS

Common situation in Africa

• Difficult to collect consumption or sales data.

Apparent consumption is usually reported

production + imports – exports ≈ consumption

• This concept has its merits:

– Production data normally fairly accurate and reliable

– Small number of manufacturers

– Import and export data are also reliable

• What can be done in Ghana to calculate REAL fertilizer consumption ?

Fertilizer use by crop [FUBC]Fertilizer use by arable land

Fertilizer utilisation by crop (FUBC)

• Not many countries compile fertilizer consumption data by crop

• Manufacturers and large dealers can estimate the consumption of fertilizers by crops

• Manufacturers and large dealers often survey their farmer customers for their own planning purposes, but the information is rarely published.

• In most situations it is necessary to carry out farm surveys to obtain the FUBC information.

Fertilizer utilisation by crop (FUBC)

• Data required to calculate FUBC

– Area under various crops grown in the year (ha)

– Proportion of each crop receiving fertilizers (%)

– Quantity of fertilizers (MT of products and nutrients) applied to each crop

• Conducted in some countries every 3 or 4 years (e.g. IFA / FAO 2007)

Consumption per hectare of agricultural land

• Calculated average rate of fertilizer consumption expressed as kg of nutrients / ha of agricultural land / year

• Agricultural land = arable land + land under permanent crops

Fertilizer Use by Crop Statistics Color Legend

not to filled out

N P2O5 K2O N P2O5 K2O N P2O5 K2O N P2O5 K2O

Crop XYZ (exemple)

2006 + 2006/07 2,350.0 5,100 69% 46% 35% 105.0 55.0 50.0 73.0 35.0 20.0 118.4 37.8 16.5

2007 + 2007/08 2,230.0 5,150 71% 47% 37% 105.0 55.0 50.0 75.0 36.0 20.0 118.7 37.7 16.5

Wheat

2006 + 2006/07 0.0 0.0 0.0

2007 + 2007/08 0.0 0.0 0.0

Rice

2006 + 2006/07 0.0 0.0 0.0

2007 + 2007/08 0.0 0.0 0.0

Maize

2006 + 2006/07 0.0 0.0 0.0

2007 + 2007/08 0.0 0.0 0.0

Other Cereals

2006 + 2006/07 0.0 0.0 0.0

2007 + 2007/08 0.0 0.0 0.0

Soybean

2006 + 2006/07 0.0 0.0 0.0

2007 + 2007/08 0.0 0.0 0.0

Oil Palm

2006 + 2006/07 0.0 0.0 0.0

2007 + 2007/08 0.0 0.0 0.0

Other Oilseeds

2006 + 2006/07 0.0 0.0 0.0

2007 + 2007/08 0.0 0.0 0.0

Cotton

2006 + 2006/07 0.0 0.0 0.0

2007 + 2007/08 0.0 0.0 0.0

Sugar Crops

2006 + 2006/07 0.0 0.0 0.0

2007 + 2007/08 0.0 0.0 0.0

Fruits & Veg

2006 + 2006/07 0.0 0.0 0.0

2007 + 2007/08 0.0 0.0 0.0

Others Crops

2006 + 2006/07 0.0 0.0 0.0

2007 + 2007/08 0.0 0.0 0.0

TOTAL2006 + 2006/07 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

2007 + 2007/08 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

Country : __________________

Total Fertilizer Consumption

('000 metric tonnes nutrients)

Actual Application Rate

(kg nutrient/ha)Planted Area

(000 ha)

Average

Yield (kg/ha)

Percent of the Planted Area that is

Fertilized (%)

Recommended Application Rate

(kg nutrient/ha)

Cell to be filled out Cell to be filled out if

information is available

Cell with automatic calculations

(Not to be filled out )

Data collection table IFA for FUBC

Most common situation in Africa

• Difficult to collect such data on a regular basis

• Proxy sources: manufacturers and importers in most countries; ministries

• Supporting documents used: sales records, questionnaires, surveys

Key actions proposed in Ghana

• Engage fertilizer importers and dealers to share accurate sales figures

– At least sales volumes per product

– When possible, per crop and per region

– Respect confidentiality

• Agree on the preferred periodicity of collection and validation

• Validation of consumption by the Fertilizer Technical Working Group