Guwahati, Feb. 23 -- Will Brownlie, UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology; Mark Maslin, UCL, and Peter Alexander, The University of Edinburgh

Soils around the world are running low on potassium, a key nutrient needed for plants to grow. This ultimately means we may not be able to grow enough food for everyone.

But it's not too late: we have just published research identifying six things we must do to safeguard potassium supplies and food production.

Potassium is required for plant growth alongside nitrogen and phosphorus (known as kalium in latin, potassium is the K in NPK fertilisers). While nitrogen and phosphorus sustainability issues are widely known, potassium remains in the shadows. Yet around 20% of agricultural soils worldwide grap...