A forum for technical information about all aspects of fertilisers and crop nutrition.

Since 1947 the International Fertiliser Society has been a forum for the dissemination and discussion of technical information about all aspects of fertilisers and crop nutrition. As such, we are for all individuals throughout the food supply chain who have a professional interest in any aspect of fertiliser production, supply and usage.

We fulfil this purpose by organising conferences, webinars and meetings, from which we publish written papers and presentation recordings. Our archive of over 860 Proceedings and 130 recordings covers most aspects of this subject area and is arguably unique. As a non-representative organisation we are unconstrained in our flexibility to cover topics that will be of interest and value to our Members.

As crop nutrition has become more multi-faceted than ‘simply’ the efficient and effective production of high yields and quality crops, so the Society’s focus has broadened to encompass soil management, environmental impacts, sustainable production and the increasing need to maximise the utilisation of manure and slurry, along with other organic and recycled materials.

More information about the Society, the benefits of Membership, and the ability to join us, are available on our website.

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Regenerative farming looks to optimise the use of the ecological system and environment, in order to benefit from the natural ecosystem services that they provide.

Phosphorus (P) is an essential nutrient for both plants and animals, playing a key role in energy transfer as a major component of ATP. It is also vital in DNA. For full capture & conversion of solar energy, crop canopies need 30-40 kg/ha P. Crop species redistribute most of this P (~85%; more than for any other nutrient) to their seeds during canopy senescence, where it is stored as phytate. Plants appear to do this because, until their roots proliferate, plant seedlings are highly sensitive to P shortages.

Some symbiotic or free-living microorganisms can fix inert di-nitrogen (N) from the air into reactive organic nitrogenous compounds.  Most biological N fixation (BNF) in farming systems occurs in the root nodules of legumes where rhizobium bacteria take photosynthates from the plant in exchange for fixing atmospheric N and returning ammonium or amides which the plant uses to form amino acids, proteins, etc.   Plants need more N than any other nutrient and N commonly limits plant growth in many ecosystems. 

Presentation by Ken Giller at IFS in 2021. See a preview in the video below, see the fu

A range of products are commercially available that claim to enable more efficient nutrient uptake, allowing less nutrient to be applied as fertiliser.

Share your ideas and experience of how to improve nutrient efficiency and reduce dependence on artificial fertilisers

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Fertilisers, especially nitrogen, give some of the biggest environmental impacts of any inputs, from both their manufacture and their application.  A range of innovative approaches are being developed to reduce the energy costs, greenhouse gas emmissions and waste associated with the production of fertilisers.

Potassium is an important macro-nutrient for plant growth

Annual conference of International Society Fertiliser at Robinson College, Cambridge, on 7-9 December 2022

Talk by Alastair Leake at IFS Agronomic Conference 2021. Farming systems employ differe

Managing nutrients effectively is crucial for our soils, crops, livestock and environment. There are many resources and initiatives available to help. 

Combining Agronomic and Technical presentations. The Society’s 2023 Conference will be held at Robinson College, Cambridge, UK on 6-8 December

This webinar will be comprised of three presentations. Matteo Poggia, Agrocares, Netherlands will describe Practical application of fusing spectroscopic techniques in routine soil analysis: Lab-in-a-Box (LiaB) concept. This will be followed by Prof. Uri Yermiyahu, Volcani Institute, Israel and  Sanjay Namdev Biradar, ICL Fertilisers India who will present the science and operational experiences of the ICLeaf crop leaf scanning technology.