The report provides a comprehensive overview of nitrogen use, resulting challenges in agrifood systems, and offers recommendations for sustainable nitrogen use.
Key Highlights of Report
- Alteration in Nitrogen Cycle: Humans currently add approximately 150 teragrams (Tg) of reactive nitrogen to the Earth’s land surface each year through agriculture and industry.
- Climate change could raise this to 600 Tg per year by 2100, increasing nitrogen loss into the environment.
- Nitrogen Loss: It occurs through:
- Emissions of ammonia (NH3) and nitrogen oxides (NOx), which lead to air pollution,
- Nitrous oxide (N2O), a potent greenhouse gas (GHG), and
- Leaching of Nitrates (NO3–) in soil and water bodies, causing eutrophication and acidification, harming ecosystems.
- Role of Agrifood Systems: About one-third of anthropogenic nitrogen emissions are contributed by livestock sector.
- In it, synthetic fertilizers, land-use change, and manure emissions are main causes of nitrogen pollution.
- Dual impact of Nitrogen Usage:
- Judicious use in agriculture helps prevent soil degradation and nutrient depletion while increasing crop yields.
- Excessive use exacerbates global warming, degrades air and water quality, and depletes stratospheric ozone.
Sustainable Nitrogen Management (SNM)SNM seeks to minimize external nitrogen inputs and losses and increase recycling of nitrogen within the production system. Recommendations for SNM
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