Greater use of 4R fertilizer program would help.Ottawa-Increasing food production is as important as curbing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from farm fertilizers and Canada can do both, says a report from Fertilizer Canada (FC) and the Canola Council of Canada (CCC).The answer lies with the greater use of the 4R fertilizer management program that can enable crop growers to obtain the maximum economic benefit from fertilizer applications while reducing their environmental impact, the report says.A 14 per cent reduction in GHG emissions by 2030 can be achieved without jeopardizing food security through the adoption of aggressive, but attainable levels of 4R best management practices (BMPs). The 4R program is based on using fertilizer from the Right Source at the Right Rate, Right Time and Right Place.“In a time when global food insecurity is on the rise, Canada must balance its fertilizer emission reduction goals with the need to increase vital food production. Over the next 50 years, farmers will need to produce more food than has been grown in the last 10,000 years, the report said.Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau has shifted the debate from a 30 per cent reduction in fertilizer use by 2030, as has been proposed in Europe, to finding ways to lower GHG emissions from fertilizers. A consultation on how to do that closed to submissions at the end of August and will report later.Fertilizer is responsible for half of the world's current food production, the report said. “It is important to Canada's role in fighting food insecurity and to the economic viability for farmers to be able to continue to increase crop yields.”Karen Proud, FC's President and CEO, said, “We support the federal government's strong push to reduce Canada's GHG emissions, but we cannot sacrifice food productivity. The approach to 2030 must be realistic, balance agricultural emission reductions with food production, and remain voluntary. Farmers are stewards of the land, and most Canadians believe they are best suited to understand the needs of their crops and their impact on the environment.”CCC President Jim Everson said, “There is no one-size-fits-all approach to reducing fertilizer emissions, and it must be balanced with farm productivity and economic viability. This report helps underscore the need to work collaboratively with farmers and industry across regions to ensure farmers have the flexibility and support to use the practices that are best suited to their farms and injects some new science-based data and economic analysis into this ongoing discussion.”By increasing crop yields and reducing fertilizer emissions through the adoption of an aggressive, but attainable level of 4R BMPs, farm incomes would increase by $4.3 billion dollars by 2030. The cost to implement the necessary level of 4R BMPs would be $495 million per year.Government policies and programs to encourage 4R adoption must take into account the regional farming differences by working with provinces and farm groups, the report said.