Nutrient Management in Support of Environmental and Agricultural Sustainability

Abstract

Given that we must farm land in order to eat, the total environmental burden imposed by farming a crop, such as winter wheat in the UK, appears to be close to the minimum given current production techniques. The value of the services other than food production, such as flood water buffering, pollination, carbon storage and so on, that land can provide is relatively large compared with the value in reducing environmental burdens from pesticide use, nutrient pollution and greenhouse gas emissions that might arise by farming less intensively. More land will need to be brought into cultivation in order to provide the same amount of food if the intensity of farming is reduced and the resultant loss of ecosystem services (ES) outweighs the reduction in other burdens. Nevertheless, losses of nutrients, especially nitrogen (N), from agriculture are a serious concern and the current cost of the environmental footprint of agriculture is significant compared with the value of the food it produces. This article examines nutrient burdens and analyses the means by which the total environmental burden might be reduced relative to productivity. These include increasing the efficiency of farming, removing constraints to yield, and establishing multiple uses for land at the same time as farming. It concludes that agronomic measures which improve nutrient capture and which obtain more yield per unit area are OPEN ACCESSSustainability 2012, 4 2514 valuable means to avoid degradation of environmental quality because both nutrient pollution and land consumption can be avoided.

Effects of bleaching wastewater irrigation on soil quality of constructed reed wetlands

“…[26] On the other hand, balance of carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus is very important to the nutrient management and agricultural sustainability. [27,28] In this study, whereas the content of nitrogen increased significantly in the STs after the exposure experiment, the presence of bleaching wastewater did not significantly affect the ratio of soil C/N and N/P. Apparently, the input of bleaching wastewater did not remarkably change the balance of soil main nutrient elements.…”

Yield and Nutrient Contents of Wheat, and Changes in Selected Soil Properties after 23 Years of Phosphorus Fertilizer Application

“…The agricultural sectors contributes to climate change by releasing greenhouse gases, which in turn, impair crop production and food security (Malhi, Kaur and Kaushik, 2021;Yohannes, 2016). Effective nutrient and fertilizer management is vital for addressing climate change and the interconnected challenges (Whitmore et al, 2012). Avoiding excess nutrient applications such as phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N), can contribute to climate change mitigation.…”

Effect of Nitrogen Fertilizer on Soil CO2 Emission Depends on Crop Rotation Strategy

“…The greenhouse gas emissions from N fertilizer production, transport, and consumption constitute a large part of the total agricultural emissions in China [19]. Therefore, improvements in N use efficiency in crop production will have significant implications for reducing fertilizer inputs and environmental protection [23,24].…”