As the specter of hunger rises following seemingly never-ending and successive global crises, state and non-state actors are frantically looking into preventing starvation across the world. The solution to this impasse is simple: food production needs to be multiplied if we are to avoid famine-like conditions in the near future. And while innovation cannot happen on command, agricultural innovation cannot afford the luxury of time in its race against the clock to save humanity. In the present climate, abundance of foodstuffs, crop yields and livestock alike, relies heavily, if not entirely, on the provision of fertilizers and animal feed. Phosphorus, the mineral form of Phosphates, is one of the big three nutrients in fertilizers, alongside Nitrogen and Potassium, and one of the essential elements in animal nutrition. OCP Group, Morocco’s state-owned phosphate mining firm, is equipped to produce both fertilizers and animal phosphate feed to ensure foodstuffs sufficiency globally.
Moroccan Fertilizers: Phosphorus-Based Fertilizers
Before delving into the types of fertilizers Morocco’s OCP produces and their use, it is important to understand where the need for fertilizers stems from. According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), natural or manufactured fertilizers serve the purpose of replenishing the soils with nutrients essential for crop growth. Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium, the big three nutrients, alongside Sulfur, considered by some scientists as a major nutrient, and other minor and micronutrients can be found in soils naturally but get depleted after crop harvesting.
According to the International Plant Nutrition Institute in Canada, Phosphorus is considered indispensable for plant growth as its functions cannot be replaced by any other nutrient. These functions include “energy transfer, photosynthesis, transformation of sugars and starches, nutrient movement within the plant and transfer of genetic characteristics from one generation to the next.” Since Phosphorus is not found free in nature, phosphate rocks get treated with sulfuric acid to obtain phosphoric acid, which is then used to produce phosphoric fertilizers, according to the USGS.
OCP Group produces a wide array of fertilizers, ranging from standard fertilizers, to fortified and soluble ones. Standard-grade fertilizers that can be used directly or mixed in blends include Monoammonium phosphate (MAP), Diammonium phosphate (DAP), and Triple superphosphate (TSP).
OCP describes Mono-ammonium phosphate (MAP) as a binary water-soluble fertilizer with a complex granule (pH=5), Di-ammonium Phosphate (DAP) is considered OCP’s most popular fertilizer since it contains high nutrients (pH=7.5), and Triple Super Phosphate (TSP), customized fertilizer developed to better fit the needs of Brazil, has a the highest phosphate content of any granular fertilizer without nitrogen (pH=3). The graphic below illustrates the percentages of the nutrients in each fertilizer type.
Fortified fertilizers are enriched fertilizers containing more than just the major nutrients, Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potash, but also micronutrients such as Sulfur, Zinc, and Boron. OCP produces two major types of fortified fertilizers: binary (fertilizers that include two out of the three essential nutrients, namely Nitrogen and Phosphorus) and tertiary (fertilizers that include all three big nutrients, referred to as NPK blends). The graphs below illustrate fortified fertilizers’ components along with the percentages of each major and micronutrients in every binary or tertiary fertilizer. For simplification purposes, the table below is to be used to read the graphs.
On binary fortified fertilizers, OCP states that “NP+ are nitrogen and phosphate-based complex fertilizers, enriched with secondary and micronutrients. These formulations increase agricultural productivity, prevent soil degradation, and offer highly concentrated solutions to improve fertility of deficient soils. They can be applied directly or used in blends.”
Tertiary fortified fertilizers, also known as NPK+ fertilizers, “provide key primary and secondary nutrients to soils and crops. Produced through a chemical process, these all-in-one complex fertilizers increase agricultural yields.” OCP also states that different formulations can be produced on demand for NPK+ blends.
OCP’s innovative take on water soluble fertilizers produced NUTRIDTOP 12.61, a high quality water soluble mono ammonium phosphate suitable for fertigation and foliar application. This formula was developed in collaboration between OCP and Moroccan farmers to better respond to their needs. Rich in Nitrogen (12%) and Phosphorus (61%) at minimum, NUTRIDTOP 12.61 provides optimum growth for vegetables, fruits and flowers in fertigated lands, greenhouses, open fields and orchards, is suited for all fertigation systems (micro irrigation, sprinklers…) as well as foliar use, and hydroponics and aquaponics, according to OCP.
Morocco: Revolutionizing Animal Phosphate Feed?
Phosphorus is not only an essential nutrient for plant growth, but also for animal nutrition. According to Inorganic Feed Phosphates (IFP), Phosphorus is the second most abundant element after Calcium in the animal body, 80% of which forms bones and teeth. Phosphorus is essential to every physiological function of the organism more than any other mineral, such as the development and maintenance of skeletal tissue, maintenance of osmotic pressure and acid-base balance, energy utilization and transfer, Protein synthesis, transport of fatty acids, amino acid exchange, growth and cell differentiation (DNA), appetite control, efficiency of feed utilization, and fertility, adds Inorganic Feed Phosphates (IFP). This renders supplementing animal nutrition with Phosphorus of the essence to ensure healthy and plentiful livestock. Indeed, Karine Le Grand, former Animal Nutrition Technical Supervisor with TIMAB Phosphates, told Groupe Roullier, a French agribusiness conglomerate, that “when animals have a sufficient quantity in their diet, phosphorus is retained by the skeleton. Where there is a deficiency, the body draws on its skeletal reserves.”
To cater to the animal feed market, OCP launched PHOSFEED in 2013 (some OCP publications state 2012 as the date of the launch, others 2013) its range of animal feed products that “provides essential nutrients to ruminants as well as poultry, pig and aquaculture farms.” OCP also claims that PHOSFEED is “the perfect compound of high digestibility, nutritional value, sustainability and cost effectiveness.” In 2018, OCP states that 10% of PHOSFEED production was able to satisfy national demand while the rest was exported to Europe, Africa, Latin America (namely Brazil), North America (namely the United States) and Asia, with the first country to have imported PHOSFEED being Portugal in 2013. PHOSFEED includes three animal phosphate feed products: PHOSFEED 18, PHOSFEED 20, and PHOSFEED 21. According to OCP, the production method of PHOSFEED products is the result of the chemical reaction of phosphoric acid with calcium carbonate under strictly controlled conditions. This graph below highlights the percentages of Calcium and Phosphorus in each PHOSFEED product.
It is noteworthy to mention that PHOSFEED 21 and PHOSFEED 22’s Phosphorus water solubility is at 85% and their moisture percentage oscillates between 2 to 3%, while PHOSFEED 18 is at 2% in terms of moisture.
In terms of digestibility, according to Karine Le Grand, developing digestible phosphates in animal feed is important to reduce its discharge in excrement. Indeed, OCP’s PHOSFEED puts a big emphasis on the digestibility of its animal feed products to ensure maximum absorption of Phosphorus. This innovative approach earned OCP’s PHOSFEED 21 the distinction of the holder of the highest digestibility rate ever measured for a Monodicalcium Phosphate 21, as the graph illustrates.
In addition to being among the top exporters and producers of fertilizers worldwide thanks to its generous phosphates reserves and innovative approach to the mining, production, and commercialization of phosphates, Morocco is expanding its reach and is well on its way to becoming a leader in animal phosphate feeds, which will undoubtedly alleviate global hunger. Concrete measures are underway by OCP to reinforce its presence on the global market in terms of animal phosphates feed, most notable of which is OCP’s investment in Brazil to launch a dicalcium phosphate plant for animal feed, announced during a meeting that gathered Mostafa Terrab, CEO of OCP, and Marcos Montes, Brazilian Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply, on May 12, 2021. Even more importantly, and seeing as Brazil is one of the world’s top beef exporters, Morocco’s dicalcium phosphate plant for animal feed is well-placed to help Brazil increase its livestock, especially since Mostafa Terrab stated that OCP is ready to give priority to the Brazilian market, according to the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce.