A global fertilizer crisis due to high oil prices and the US rush to biofuel crops is declining the harvests of the world’s poorest farmers.

Dr Balu Bumb, policy leader at the International centre for Soil Fertility and Agricultural Development (IFDC) in the US, said:

Of the three main types, diammonium phosphate (Dap) sold for US $250 per tonne in January 2007 but has risen to $1,230 per tonne. Potash-based fertilizers have risen from $172 to over $500 a tonne, and nitrogen based fertilizers have risen from $277 to over $450 per tonne.Much of the price rise is attributed to first world farmers who have applied high levels of fertilizers to maximize harvests of grain to take advantage of record grain prices.

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