The International Alliance for Phytobiomes Research (IAPR), an international, nonprofit consortium of industry, academic, and governmental partners created in 2016 and headquartered in St. Paul, Minn., announced on March 28 that The Fertilizer Institute (TFI) has joined the organization as a sponsoring partner.
The IAPR facilitates and coordinates international efforts toward expanding phytobiomes research to accelerate the sustainable production of food, feed, and fiber for food security. IAPR said the term “phytobiome” refers to a plant growing within a specific environment, or biome, and includes the plant itself and all micro- and macro-organisms living in, on, or around the plant – such as microbes, animals, insects, and other plants – as well as the environment, which includes soil, air, water, weather, and climate.
“The Fertilizer Institute brings another dimension to the Alliance and our efforts to move agricultural science towards a holistic, systems-based, phytobiomes approach,” said Kellye Eversole, IAPR Executive Director. “Their expertise and efforts aimed at helping growers manage nutrient applications more effectively and sustainably will help us advance knowledge of the critical interactions between nutrients, soil, crops/crop varieties, and microbes, thereby enabling sustainable and profitable crop production.”
Sally Flis, TFI Director of Agronomy, will represent TFI in the Alliance Coordinating Committee, which identifies research, resource, and technology gaps, establishes priorities, and develops strategic plans to achieve Alliance goals.
“Properly managed fertilizers support cropping systems that provide economic, social, and environmental benefits. On the other hand, poorly managed nutrient applications can decrease profitability and increase nutrient losses, potentially degrading water and air,” said Flis. “Understanding how fertilizers behave in the phytobiome is a component of making the right fertilizer source, rate, timing, and placement decisions in each field.”