1. Given the global scope of the CoCoFe, do you think the objectives are appropriate? If not, how would you add to them or modify them?
The objectives are appropriate. But I believe beside policy makers and regulations we should also include and address farmers as fertilizer users to provide capacity building.
2. How should be the CoCoFe be structured to have the maximum positive impact?
It should include the food security issues, public health problems; environment related aspects of nutrient buildup, leaching, migration with erosion-sedimentation, ground water pollution, fertilizer quality and byproducts. It can also include the integrated soil fertility and productivity assessment and management with the concept of balanced state of nutrient in relation to soil and water pools, health hazards, environmental and economic aspects of fertilizer application.
3. Who would be the best audience for the CoCoFe to meet our objectives and how could we broaden and diversify this audience to increase its influence?
Address also farmers, associations and cooperatives of farmers, consumers notably gender, students at all levels (with simplified stories for children and more complicated booklets or leaflets for middle and high schools). Even the university disciplines not related to soil and irrigation/plant production must go through curricula related to food security/fertilizer application interaction and interface with special attention to public health and environmental protection.
4. What should the scope of the CoCoFe be? Which nutrient input sources should be included; only synthetic fertilizers, or also manure, biosolids, compost, etc.? Should other products such as bio-stimulants, nitrification inhibitors, urease inhibitors, etc., be included as well?
Yes in the view of balanced plant nutrition, all these aspects should be included plus the physical ameliorators of water content in the soil as fertilizers and salts might also concentrate in these "polymers" at the depth of their application and create salinity problems.
5. Will the CoCoFe assist in promoting responsible and judicious use of fertilizers? Why or why not? What other suggestions do you have to help the CoCoFe meet our objectives?
To promote responsible and judicious use of fertilizers, CoCOFe must be presented in friendly and simple way, accessible to decision makers, farmers, housekeepers with possibility of controling food quality and tracing back. I suggest to encourage MS to carry the assessment and mapping of soil fertility, soil and water quality, landuse planning based on land quality and suitability to promote multifunctional landuse only on soils with low background values of heavy metals and absence of pesticide residues and high concentration of nitrates and nitrites.
Dr. Talal Darwish