In modern agriculture, fertilization with phosphorus (P) from mineral sources is required to achieve high crop yields (Tilman, 1999; Roy‐Bolduc & Hijri, 2012). The commonly fertilized P form is soluble Pi, which is readily available to the plant. Arable soils in Europe, parts of Asia and America often contain surplus amounts of P (Cordell et al., 2009). The current, massive input of soluble Pi is not sustainable, as a result of depletion of global P reservoirs and eutrophication of waters by runoff from agricultural lands (Scholz & Wellmer, 2013; Reijnders, 2014). In addition, crops can typically only utilize between 10% and 25% of the fertilized Pi (Cordell et al., 2009), because of its slow diffusion and adherence to soil particles. Plant Pi utilization efficiency can therefore be effectively improved, with simultaneous lowering of environmental risk, by an increase in root surface area realized via lateral roots, root hairs, cluster roots (Neumann & Martinoia, 2002) and mycorrhizal hyphae. SL‐focused strategies, if targeted to tailored crops, might also accelerate Pi uptake by promoting mycorrhiza and root hair growth and can therefore help to increase the availability of Pi for food production while simultaneously increasing the sustainability of crop production.