ABSTRACT
This chapter shows how inappropriate practices in the use of fertilizer in agricultural production contribute to challenges arising from the nexus of resources in the agricultural sector and identifies governance lessons. The account starts by demonstrating the importance of nitrogen chemical fertilizer in this nexus before examining the agricultural sectors in China and India. The Green Revolution spread around the world during the last four decades of the twentieth century, allowing agricultural productivity to soar, especially in Asian countries such as China and India, and supporting growth in international trade in food and agricultural inputs. Land and water have always been essential inputs to the production of food, while the industrialization of agriculture increases the requirement for minerals and energy. The extraction of primary mineral resources provides the raw materials for critical fertilizers such as potassium and phosphate, and energy raw materials such as coal and natural gas provide feedstock for the manufacture of nitrogen-based fertilizers.
