Global Fertiliser Day 2025

Global Fertiliser Day celebrates the vital role of fertilisers in feeding the world. On this day (October 13th) 117 years ago, Fritz Haber submitted his patent for “synthesis of ammonia from its elements,” a breakthrough that earned him the 1918 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Now in 2025, the Haber-Bosch process is responsible for feeding approximately half the world’s population.  

However, this significant progress in food security has not gone without environmental consequences. Studies have shown only 50% of applied nitrogen in current fertilisers are used by crops whilst the rest are leached into the environment, resulting in nutrient contamination of ground and surface water sources. 

Therefore, improving nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) is crucial in tackling current challenges in fertiliser use to decrease its environmental impacts and increase its efficiency at feeding our growing population in a changing climate. 

At our Hub, research into efficient and ‘smart’ fertilisers is central to our mission to develop next-generation agricultural solutions. Through our ongoing research developments and partnerships, our researchers aim to create new and improved fertilisers that deliver nutrients precisely when and where plants need them, maximising efficiency while minimising its environmental impact. 

From the creation of new and sustainable coatings for controlled release fertilisers by McQuillan et al. (2025), to using data assimilation to accurately predict nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from nitrogen leaching pathways by Pan et al. (2025), valuable research from our Hub represents crucial advances in sustainable fertiliser design to address the overarching challenge of feeding a growing population while protecting our planet’s resources and working within our planetary boundaries.  

With the world needing to increase food production by 60% by 2050 to feed a projected 9.7 billion people, innovative fertiliser technologies are essential for achieving global food security, nutrition, and sustainable agriculture (SDG 2).  

We take this opportunity to thank our researchers, industry partners, and stakeholders for your role in tackling this crucial social, economic, and environmental challenge.   

Learn more about our smart fertiliser research at smartfertiliserhub.org.au 

Learn more about Global Fertiliser Day here: https://fertilizercanada.ca/our-focus/advocacy/global-fertilizer-day/