Nitrogen Challenges and Opportunities for Agricultural and Environmental Science in India

Abstract

In the last six decades, the consumption of reactive nitrogen (Nr) in the form of fertilizer in India has been growing rapidly, whilst the nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) of cropping systems has been decreasing. These trends have led to increasing environmental losses of Nr, threatening the quality of air, soils, and fresh waters, and thereby endangering climate-stability, ecosystems, and human-health. Since it has been suggested that the fertilizer consumption of India may double by 2050, there is an urgent need for scientific research to support better nitrogen management in Indian agriculture. In order to share knowledge and to develop a joint vision, experts from the UK and India came together for a conference and workshop on “Challenges and Opportunities for Agricultural Nitrogen Science in India.” The meeting concluded with three core messages: (1) Soil stewardship is essential and legumes need to be planted in rotation with cereals to increase nitrogen fixation in areas of limited Nr availability. Synthetic symbioses and plastidic nitrogen fixation are possibly disruptive technologies, but their potential and implications must be considered. (2) Genetic diversity of crops and new technologies need to be shared and exploited to reduce N losses and support productive, sustainable agriculture livelihoods. (3) The use of leaf color sensing shows great potential to reduce nitrogen fertilizer use (by 10–15%). This, together with the usage of urease inhibitors in neem-coated urea, and better management of manure, urine, and crop residues, could result in a 20–25% improvement in NUE of India by 2030.

Nitrogen pollution from cattle production in India: a review of the social, cultural and economic influences

“…The use of cost-effective decision support tools such as the soil health card for site specific nutrient management and demand-based nitrogen application using the leaf colour chart is gaining popularity among farmers in India. The benefit of such tools is that they can help optimize the timing of nitrogen fertilizer application and reducing the nitrogen losses (Móring et al ., 2021). In addition, farmers can also download free software on their mobile phones to calculate the amount of nitrogen fertilizer required.…”

“…In addition, farmers can also download free software on their mobile phones to calculate the amount of nitrogen fertilizer required. This method has already proved effective in the production of several crops (Móring et al, 2021). The types of feeds and feeding regimes of cattle determine feed efficiency and emission intensity.…”

Recent trends in nitrogen cycle and eco-efficient nitrogen management strategies in aerobic rice system

“…Strong N management should intend to acquire higher crop yield, by balancing the soil fertility status and reducing the environmental hazards ( Bayu, 2020 ). Currently, the recent advanced studies about the N cycle and environmental hazards have enriched the knowledge to achieve better N management goals ( Mahmud et al, 2021 ; Móring et al, 2021 ). However, due to specific natural and socio-economic features, limited N supply or over- and misuse of N fertilizers occur, where the former condition will cause reduced crop yield and the latter will lead to risks of environmental pollution.…”

Towards Precision Fertilization: Multi-Strategy Grey Wolf Optimizer Based Model Evaluation and Yield Estimation

“…Plants need chemical elements, water, and carbon dioxide to synthesize organic matter under photosynthesis in sunlight, and fertilizers are essential "food" for crops [9][10][11][12][13][14][15]. The roots of crop growth are in the soil, and 60-70% of plant nutrients are absorbed from the soil [16][17][18][19][20][21][22]. There are many types of fertilizers, including massive elements (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium), trace elements (calcium, magnesium, sulfur, manganese, boron, iron, copper, molybdenum), and organic fertilizers [23][24][25][26].…”