Cost-effective mitigation of nitrogen pollution from global croplands.

ABSTRACT: Cropland is a main source of global nitrogen pollution^1,2. Mitigating nitrogen pollution from global croplands is a grand challenge because of the nature of non-point-source pollution from millions of farms and the constraints to implementing pollution-reduction measures, such as lack of financial resources and limited nitrogen-management knowledge of farmers³. Here we synthesize 1,521 field observations worldwide and identify 11 key measures that can reduce nitrogen losses from croplands to air and water by 30-70%, while increasing crop yield and nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) by 10-30% and 10-80%, respectively. Overall, adoption of this package of measures on global croplands would allow the production of 17 ± 3 Tg (10¹² g) more crop nitrogen (20% increase

SUBMITTER: Gu B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9842502 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature