Optimizing phosphorus inputs in EU agricultural soils

This dataset includes: a) The distribution of P management strategies in EU agricultural land b) Optimized Phosphorus inputs in order to reach optimal P concentrations by 2050
Resource Type: 
Datasets
Soil Threats Data
Registration is requested: 
Yes
Year: 
2025
Themes: 
Soil Nutrients
Soil Nutrients›Phosphorus budget in topsoils
Keywords: 
Phosphorus

Title: Optimizing phosphorus inputs in EU agricultural soils.
Description: Excessive phosphorus (P) fertilization has resulted in elevated soil P concentrations in some regions in the EU. Legacy soil P imposes a risk for soil functioning and may lead to P losses into the aquatic environment. Recent proposed EU policies aim to optimize P inputs and mitigate excessive soil P concentrations. We present a data & modelling  framework to estimate how much and where P inputs in EU agricultural (cropland and grassland) soils can be optimized by 2050. Assuming optimal soil P concentrations (Olsen) being 20 – 40 mg kg−1 , we calculated that current P inputs across the EU can be reduced by 21 % without adverse impacts on crop production. The dataset incliudes a) The distribution of nine P management strategies in EU agricultural land b) Optimized Phosphorus inputs in order to reach optimal P concentrations by 2050 and c) The increase in P inputs required when the aim is to reach at least 20 mg kg−1 of topsoil POLSEN concentrations by 2050.

Spatial coverage: EU 27
Pixel size: 1km x 1km
Temporal coverage:  2009 (Baseline) - 2050 (Timeline to optimize P inputs)
Projection: ETRS89-extended / LAEA Europe

Reference: Van Eynde, E., Ros, G.H., Yunta, F., Muntwyler, A., Hinsinger, P., Fendrich, A.N. and Panagos, P., 2025. Opportunities for optimizing phosphorus inputs in EU agricultural soils. Environmental Science & Policy, 171: 104168.

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  • The data provided has been prepared for use by internal research activities of the Joint Research Centre (JRC). JRC has also collaborated with Wageningen University, ETH Zurich and INRAE for this work.
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Reference of source (Citations) :

Van Eynde, E., Ros, G.H., Yunta, F., Muntwyler, A., Hinsinger, P., Fendrich, A.N. and Panagos, P., 2025. Opportunities for optimizing phosphorus inputs in EU agricultural soils. Environmental Science & Policy, 171: 104168.

Muntwyler, A., Panagos, P., Pfister, S. and Lugato, E., 2024. Assessing the phosphorus cycle in European agricultural soils: Looking beyond current national phosphorus budgets. Science of the Total Environment, 906: 167143.

When making reference to the ESDAC

  • Panagos, P., Van Liedekerke, M., Borrelli, P., Köninger, J., Ballabio, C., Orgiazzi, A., Lugato, E., Liakos, L., Hervas, J., Jones, A.  Montanarella, L. 2022. European Soil Data Centre 2.0: Soil data and knowledge in support of the EU policies. European Journal of Soil Science, 73(6), e13315. DOI: 10.1111/ejss.13315
  • Panagos P., Van Liedekerke M., Jones A., Montanarella L., “European Soil Data Centre: Response to European policy support and public data requirements”; (2012) Land Use Policy, 29 (2), pp. 329-338. doi:10.1016/j.landusepol.2011.07.003
  • European Soil Data Centre (ESDAC), esdac.jrc.ec.europa.eu, European Commission, Joint Research Centre