April 6, 2009

Expert for Tropical Agriculture

At the beginning of this year, Dr. Georg Ebert, an expert working for the K+S KALI GmbH, was appointed as a team member of the International Potash Institute (IPI) in Horgen, Switzerland, as the coordinator for sub-Saharan Africa.

The IPI has thereby broadened the scope of its fertilisation consultation in Africa to include the sub-Saharan countries. It now comprises approximately 42 African states south of the Saharan belt, or actually south of the countries (west to east) Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Chad, Sudan and Ethiopia. With a mere eight kilograms per hectare, application of mineral fertilisers is exceedingly low in this region (less than 10% of the international average). This results in poor harvests, creating problems in the supply with staple foods.

Dr. Ebert is an expert with a great store of experience in tropical agriculture. Many years spent teaching and researching, with an emphasis on tropical and subtropical regions, at the Berlin Humboldt University, as well as his numerous research expeditions have qualified him for this position. Since 2005, Dr. Ebert has worked for K+S KALI GmbH, as an application consultant for Western Asia, the Middle East as well as for Africa. He is now responsible for developing IPI cooperation partnerships with research institutions in West and in East Africa. In Mozambique, the IPI already participates in an international project aimed at improving wheat cultivation.