Chemical fertilizers, key technology for economic security, are now covered by K Program

The government has revised the second research and development (R&D) vision of the Key and Advanced Technology R&D through the Cross Community Collaboration Program (K Program). As a new technology to be addressed, the government added "technologies related to effective utilization of fertilizer components, reduction of fertilizer use, and fertilizer production based on advanced technologies such as synthetic biology and data science."

Minoru Kiuchi, Minister of State for Science and Technology Policy, said, "We have designated fertilizers as a category of specified critical products under the Economic Security Promotion Act and are supporting business entities working to stockpile key raw materials for fertilizers. With this partial revision of our R&D vision, we firmly commit ourselves to ensuring food security from a technical perspective."

The K Program has created 250 billion yen each in funds for JST and NEDO to support the development of technologies important to economic security. Fifty categories of technology have been selected to date, and fertilizer technology is now included as the 51st category. Japan imports major raw materials for chemical fertilizers almost entirely from other countries. For example, 75% of urea is imported from Malaysia, and only 4% is produced domestically. Moreover, 73% of ammonium phosphate and 64% of potassium chloride are imported from China and Canada, respectively, and both materials are virtually not produced domestically. Therefore, ammonium phosphate and potassium chloride have been designated as critical products for economic security and are being stockpiled.

To further strengthen food security, the government has screened for technologies that should be fostered and accumulated in the future. The government has decided to support technologies focusing on the integrated relationship between soil microorganisms and plants under the K Program, as these technologies are promising and are strengths of Japan as the result of past research and development. The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology and JST will finalize the R&D concept by the end of this fiscal year and solicit applications for projects in the fall. The R&D concept will aim to improve fertilizer self-sufficiency by reducing fertilizer use in the production of grains and feeds and producing green manure (plant-based compost) through effective utilization of fertilizer components found in the air and soil. For example, nitrogen in the air will be utilized as fertilizer by enhancing the function of nitrogen-fixing rhizobia. The function of solubilizing bacteria capable of converting phosphorus and potassium abundantly found in the soil into plant-absorbable forms and the function of supplying bacteria that help plants to absorb them will be enhanced. The objective is to convert phosphorus and potassium from the soil into fertilizer.

Plants such as rice and potatoes will be genetically modified for promoting symbiosis between plants and microorganisms, such as rhizobia, solubilizing bacteria, and supplying bacteria, or for improving the ability to accumulate nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium in the plants. The purpose is to use those plants as fertilizer (green manure). Furthermore, it is difficult to use genetically modified bacteria in general farm fields. The genomes of bacteria in the soil will be analyzed, and a system will be developed to improve soil health by controlling the soil microbiota to reduce fertilizer use. In addition to developing these biotechnology-related technologies, the R&D concept will also include the production of fertilizers through chemical synthesis. The overall R&D budget is expected to be several billion yen.