Optimizing nitrogen fertilizer use for more grain and less pollution

Ren, Keyu; Xu, Minggang; Li, Rong; Zheng, Lei; Liu, Shaogui; Reis, Stefan ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2428-8320; Wang, Huiying; Lu, Changai; Zhang, Wenju; Gao, Hui; Duan, Yinghua; Gu, Baojing. 2022 Optimizing nitrogen fertilizer use for more grain and less pollution. Journal of Cleaner Production, 360. 132180. 10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.132180

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Abstract/Summary

Optimal nitrogen (N) management is critical for efficient crop production and agricultural pollution control. Approximate 210–220 kg ha−1 N fertilizer was applied in millions of small plots through broadcasting way in China, resulting in over and loss of N fertilizers. However, it is difficult to implement advanced management practices on smallholder farms due to a lack of knowledge. Here, using 35,502 on-farm fertilization experiments, we demonstrated that smallholders in China could actually produce more grain with less N fertilizer use only through optimizing N application rate. The yields of wheat, maize and rice were shown to increase between 10% and 19% while N application rates were reduced by 15–19%. These changes resulted in an increase in N use efficiency (NUE) by 32–46% and a reduction in N surplus by 40% without actually changing farmers’ operational practices. By reducing N application rates in line with official recommendations would not only save fertilizer cost while increasing crop yield, but also at the same time reduce environmental N pollution in China. Beyond of optimizing N application rate, improved management practices were required to produce more grain with less pollution, which would need about 11.8 billion US dollars for the implementation and reducing N loss reduction by 1.75 million tons to the environment.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.132180
UKCEH and CEH Sections/Science Areas:	Atmospheric Chemistry and Effects (Science Area 2017-)
ISSN:	0959-6526
Additional Keywords:	crop yield, nitrogen use efficiency, nitrogen surplus, environmental sustainability, nitrogen management
NORA Subject Terms:	Agriculture and Soil Science Atmospheric Sciences
Date made live:	14 Jun 2022 15:10 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/532617

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