Fertilizer Information on the Web
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Fertilizer Information on the Web
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................................................. 2 FADINAP AT HTTP://WWW.FADINAP.ORG .......................................................................................... 2 FAO OF THE UNITED NATIONS AT HTTP://WWW.FAO.ORG ............................................................... 3 INTERNATIONAL FERTILIZER INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION AT HTTP://WWW.FERTILIZER.ORG............. 4 FERTILIZER MAGAZINES / NEWSLETTER PUBLISHERS WEBSITES .................................................. 5 FERTILIZER TRADERS/MANUFACTURERS WEBSITES ...................................................................... 5 HOW TO SEARCH FOR FERTILIZER RELATED WEBSITES? ............................................................... 6
INTERNET TRAINING 1998
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Introduction
The fertilizer sector is quick to recognize the potentials of the Internet in information dissemination and exchange. Between 1995 and 1996, a number of important fertilizer-related organizations have established presence in the Internet. Some of these were FADINAP, the International Fertilizer Association (IFA), Fertecon, FMB, and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). By 1997, the number of fertilizer companies/organizations with web pages has grown tremendously. A vast amount of information covering latest statistics, prices, developments and forecast, which used to be difficult and costly to obtain, is now available practically for anybody who has access to the Internet. Here are some recommended sites to visit:
FADINAP at http://www.fadinap.org
FADINAP joined the Web in mid-August 1996. What started as an experimental project has received strong interest from member countries and the general public. The University of Greenwich, Natural Resources Institute, UK on evaluating FADINAP’s publication, lauded FADINAP for being “quick to exploit the possibilities presented by the new ESCAP homepage on the Internet. The FADINAP link is well-presented...”. There
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were also request and interest on making FADINAP publications available through the Internet, or via email to regular readers. FADINAP website provides detailed description of its activities, publications and services, and offers statistical data on fertilizer production, trade, use and prices as well as information of agro-chemicals related meetings, conferences and workshops worldwide. The most recent addition, which is considered a major breakthrough in FADINAP’s efforts to modernize its information services, is the on-line agro-chemicals bibliographic database and more recently is the on-line directory of fertilizer traders, importers, producers and organizations. The bibliographic database consists of over 7,500 citations on fertilizers and crop protection in Asia and the Pacific including numerous country reports on fertilizer sector development and plant nutrition status presented in various regional meetings sponsored by FADINAP since 1978. Many of these technical papers are not available elsewhere. All publications, articles, books and references cited in the FADINAP bibliographic database are available at FADINAP's library. Photocopies can be requested at cost. Having recognized the potential of the Internet as a means of revolutionizing fertilizer information collection and dissemination, FADINAP has embarked a project on internet-based networking beginning January 1998 to December 1999. A direct result of this project will be the creation of Internet websites in the participating agencies, which will give general description of their organization and will be able to provide relevant fertilizer and agro-chemicals related information. The creation of these websites would also provide countries with equal access to information available on the World Wide Web.
FAO of the United Nations at http://www.fao.org
FAO’s website has been one of the earliest and most comprehensive site for its kind. It is a must to visit for those interested in monitoring global agricultural situation and trends. It offers a vast amount on information covering a wide range of issues on food and agriculture, including: monthly reports on global food production, a comprehensive collection of internationally accepted food standards, updates of the distribution of animals diseases and plant pests worldwide, and countrylevel nutrition, fisheries and forestry profile.
INTERNET TRAINING 1998
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Fertilizer Information on the Web
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FAO’s website also provides some 40 on-line and multilingual databases currently containing about 1 million time-series records covering international statistics in the following areas: production, trade, food balance sheets, food aid shipment, land use and irrigation, forest products, fishery products, population and agricultural machinery. Of particular importance is the on-line fertilizer statistics, which is published annually as Fertilizer Yearbook. The on-line database has far more advantages than the printed version because it allows users to search for a particular set of data and present them in several formats. Recently, FAO has limited the use of the database by restricting data search to about 500 records per query and prohibited users to download the data files. This however is not a major problem for most people but a few organizations may require to download the data files and/or to access huge amount of records per query. An annual subscription fee ranging from US$ 1,200 to 2,500 is charged to users that require extended on-line query and unlimited download of database files. The subscription rate also covers all data updates and new functionality during the subscription period.
International Fertilizer Industry Association at http://www.fertilizer.org.
IFA joined the Web in mid-1996 and later realized its vast potential for rapid and efficient flow of information from IFA to its 500 members in over 90 countries. Communications are central to IFA’s mission, both with its member companies and associations, and with a growing number of others with an interest in fertilizers and related issues. The huge benefits derived from IFA website is clearly indicated by IFA’s designation of 1997 as “The Year of the Internet”. Aside from the usual organization profiles, IFA website offers information about its recent and upcoming activities, calendar of fertilizer related meetings worldwide, publications, trade information sources, fertilizer demand and crops, fertilizer and the environment, statistics and links to websites of its members and related organizations. IFA website also provides several compilations of graphs, diagrams and tables on the capacity, production, consumption and trade of nitrogen, phosphate, potash and other important micronutrients in different countries and regions of the world. IFA’s fertilizer statistics data, which are normally INTERNET TRAINING 1998
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distributed to members annually on diskettes, can now be downloaded from the IFA website without restriction. In addition, some really important papers, such as the annual reviews on global agricultural situation and fertilizer consumption trends are available in full in the Internet. The most recent addition is the IFA World Fertilizer Use Manual, currently under construction.
Fertilizer Magazines / Newsletter Publishers Websites
International fertilizer publishing companies are also in the forefront of the fertilizer sector’s entry into Internet. In fact, they were among the first in the industry to join the web. Because of the commercial nature of the business, websites of publishing companies provide no more than description of their products and information on prices and ordering. In some cases, sample pages/text are provided to give prospective buyers a glimpse of the actual content of a product. In addition, most of these websites have useful Link Page, which provides a short cut access to dozens of related Web sites. Here are some notable addresses to visit: British Sulphur Publishing at http://www.cru-int.com/ Fertecon at http://www.fertecon.com/ FMB at http://www.fmb.com/
Fertilizer Traders/Manufacturers Websites
The global reach of the Internet is emphasized by the number of fertilizer traders/manufacturers throughout the globe which have already established Web sites. The Indonesian urea producer, Petrochemika Gresik, can be contacted at http://www.surabaya.indo.net.id/petro/petro.htm while the Indian Farmers’ Fertilizer Company has the following Web site address: http://www.iffco.nic.id. The IFA Website at http://www.fertilizer.org provides an extensive list of fertilizer company Web sites. Many more companies are expected to join in the Internet in the near future and very soon the Internet would become an essential tool for communication and information dissemination.
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How To Search For Fertilizer Related Websites?
The easiest way is to visit FADINAP and/or IFA Web sites because they provide links to numerous fertilizer-related Web sites in the Internet. The work of searching these sites had already been done for you so make the best use of these links. Also, whenever you are in a particular fertilizerrelated Web site, always look at the Link page, if available, and there you can find important addresses. The other way is to retrieve information using directories and search engines. They are often mistaken for one another. The difference is that while directories merely list sites submitted to them, like the Yellow Pages, search engines have technology that actually finds the sites containing key words you have requested and offers up an organized list for you. Knowing how best to wade through the results will make your search more useful. Search results are ranked by confidence or in other words on how closely the keywords match.
INTERNET TRAINING 1998
FADINAP United Nations/ESCAP