Nitrogen use to improve sustainable yields in agricultural systems
Author: Sudhakar Srivastava
Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
Published: 2023-11-01
Total Pages: 139
ISBN-13: 2832538002
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Agricultural Nitrogen Use and Its Environmental Implications
Author: Y. P. Abrol
Publisher: I. K. International Pvt Ltd
Published: 2007
Total Pages: 553
ISBN-13: 8189866338
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →Nitrogen fertilizers are the inescapable necessity to enhance agricultural production and to sustain food security. However, their inefficient use accrues from inherent limitations of the crop plants as well as the manner in which N fertilizers are formulated, applied and managed. Excessive accumulation of N in the environment leads to soil acidification, pollution of groundwater and eutrophication of surface water, posing a public health problem as well as ecosystem imbalance. Moreover, the ozone layer depletion and greenhouse effects of NOx gases have global implications. Agricultural Nitrogen Use: Environmental Implications provides a comprehensive, interdisciplinary description of problems related to the efficient use of nitrogen in agriculture, in the overall context of the nitrogen cycle, its environmental and human health implications, as well as various approaches to improve N use efficiency. The book is presented in six sections: N Use, Flows and Cycling in Agricultural Systems; N Use Efficiency in Crop Ecosystems; Management Options and Strategies for Enhancing N Use Efficiency; Plant Physiological and Molecular Aspects of Enhancing N Use Efficiency; Role of Legumes and Biofertilizers in Agricultural N Economy; and Environmental and Human Health Implications.
Sustainable Intensification
Author: Jules N. Pretty
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2012-06-25
Total Pages: 292
ISBN-13: 1136529276
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →Continued population growth, rapidly changing consumption patterns and the impacts of climate change and environmental degradation are driving limited resources of food, energy, water and materials towards critical thresholds worldwide. These pressures are likely to be substantial across Africa, where countries will have to find innovative ways to boost crop and livestock production to avoid becoming more reliant on imports and food aid. Sustainable agricultural intensification - producing more output from the same area of land while reducing the negative environmental impacts - represents a solution for millions of African farmers. This volume presents the lessons learned from 40 sustainable agricultural intensification programmes in 20 countries across Africa, commissioned as part of the UK Government's Foresight project. Through detailed case studies, the authors of each chapter examine how to develop productive and sustainable agricultural systems and how to scale up these systems to reach many more millions of people in the future. Themes covered include crop improvements, agroforestry and soil conservation, conservation agriculture, integrated pest management, horticulture, livestock and fodder crops, aquaculture, and novel policies and partnerships.
Nitrogen in the Environment: Sources, Problems and Management
Author: R.F. Follett
Publisher: Gulf Professional Publishing
Published: 2001-12-03
Total Pages: 539
ISBN-13: 0080537561
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →Nitrogen in the Environment: Sources, Problems, and Management is the first volume to provide a holistic perspective and comprehensive treatment of nitrogen from field, to ecosystem, to treatment of urban and rural drinking water supplies, while also including a historical overview, human health impacts and policy considerations. It provides a worldwide perspective on nitrogen and agriculture. Nitrogen is one of the most critical elements required in agricultural systems for the production of crops for feed, food and fiber. The ever-increasing world population requires increasing use of nitrogen in agriculture to supply human needs for dietary protein. Worldwide demand for nitrogen will increase as a direct response to increasing population. Strategies and perspectives are considered to improve nitrogen-use efficiency. Issues of nitrogen in crop and human nutrition, and transport and transformations along the continuum from farm field to ground water, watersheds, streams, rivers, and coastal marine environments are discussed. Described are aerial transport of nitrogen from livestock and agricultural systems and the potential for deposition and impacts. The current status of nitrogen in the environment in selected terrestrial and coastal environments and crop and forest ecosystems and development of emerging technologies to minimize nitrogen impacts on the environment are addressed. The nitrogen cycle provides a framework for assessing broad scale or even global strategies to improve nitrogen use efficiency. Growing human populations are the driving force that requires increased nitrogen inputs. These increasing inputs into the food-production system directly result in increased livestock and human-excretory nitrogen contribution into the environment. The scope of this book is diverse, covering a range of topics and issues from furthering our understanding of nitrogen in the environment to policy considerations at both farm and national scales.
Management of Biological Nitrogen Fixation for the Development of More Productive and Sustainable Agricultural Systems
Author: J.K. Ladha
Publisher: Int. Rice Res. Inst.
Published: 1995-09-30
Total Pages: 300
ISBN-13: 0792334132
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →Reprinted from Plant and Soil, v.174, nos.1-2 (1995), this volume is devoted to discussions on the role of biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) in agricultural sustainability. Papers presented on BNF in crop forage and tree legumes are augmented with discussion of integrated farming systems involving BNF, soil and N management, and recycling of legume residues. BNF by non-legumes is discussed and attempts to transform cereals into nodulating plants are critically reviewed. Also described are advances in the development of new methodologies to understand symbiotic interactions and to assess N-2 fixation in the field; means of enhancing BNF through plant and soil management; breeding and selection; problems encountered in exploiting BNF under farmers' field conditions; and promising approaches to improve BNF exploitation. Lacks a subject index. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
Biological Nitrogen Fixation for Sustainable Agriculture
Author: J.K. Ladha
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Published: 2013-03-09
Total Pages: 212
ISBN-13: 9401709106
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →Chemical fertilizers have had a significant impact on food production in the recent past, and are today an indispensable part of modern agriculture. On the other hand, the oil crisis of the 1970s and the current Middle East problems are constant reminders of the vulnerability of our fossil fuel dependent agriculture. There are vast areas of the developing world where N fertilizers are neither available nor affordable and, in most of these countries, balance of payment problems have resulted in the removal of N fertilizer subsidies. The external costs of environmental degradation and human health far exceed economic concerns. Input efficiency of N fertilizer is one of the lowest and, in turn, contributes substantially to environmental pollution. Nitrate in ground and surface waters and the threat to the stability of the ozone layer from gaseous oxides of nitrogen are major health and environmental concerns. The removal of large quantities of crop produce from the land also depletes soil of its native N reserves. Another concern is the decline in crop yields under continuous use of N fertilizers. These economic, environmental and production considerations dictate that biological alternatives which can augment, and in some cases replace, N fertilizers must be exploited. Long-term sustainability of agricultural systems must rely on the use and effective management of internal resources. The process of biological nitrogen fixation offers and economically attractive and ecologically sound means of reducing external nitrogen input and improving the quality and quantity of internal resources. In this book, we outline sustainability issues that dictate an increased use of biological nitrogen fixation and the constraints on its optimal use in agriculture.
Agriculture and the Nitrogen Cycle
Author: Arvin Mosier
Publisher: Island Press
Published: 2013-04-10
Total Pages: 320
ISBN-13: 1597267430
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →Nitrogen is an essential element for plant growth and development and a key agricultural input-but in excess it can lead to a host of problems for human and ecological health. Across the globe, distribution of fertilizer nitrogen is very uneven, with some areas subject to nitrogen pollution and others suffering from reduced soil fertility, diminished crop production, and other consequences of inadequate supply. Agriculture and the Nitrogen Cycle provides a global assessment of the role of nitrogen fertilizer in the nitrogen cycle. The focus of the book is regional, emphasizing the need to maintain food and fiber production while minimizing environmental impacts where fertilizer is abundant, and the need to enhance fertilizer utilization in systems where nitrogen is limited. The book is derived from a workshop held by the Scientific Committee on Problems of the Environment (SCOPE) in Kampala, Uganda, that brought together the world's leading scientists to examine and discuss the nitrogen cycle and related problems. It contains an overview chapter that summarizes the group's findings, four chapters on cross-cutting issues, and thirteen background chapters. The book offers a unique synthesis and provides an up-to-date, broad perspective on the issues of nitrogen fertilizer in food production and the interaction of nitrogen and the environment.
Nitrogen Fixation
Author:
Publisher: BoD – Books on Demand
Published: 2020-04-08
Total Pages: 204
ISBN-13: 178984648X
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →Biological nitrogen fixation (BNF), the process by which gaseous N2 is converted into ammonia (NH3) via the enzyme nitrogenase, is crucial for the availability of nitrogen (N) in the terrestrial ecosystem. Some bacteria have the remarkable capacity to fix atmospheric nitrogen to ammonia under ambient conditions, a reaction only mimicked on an industrial scale by a chemical process. This microbiological process converts atmospheric nitrogen into a plant-usable form, thus decreasing the need to use chemical fertilizers in crop production. Chapters in this volume cover different aspects of this fantastic phenomenon, including biofertilizer, organic nitrogen in agricultural systems, nitrogen fertilization for sustainable crop production, and others. This book is designed for researchers, students and general readers.
Nitrogen in the Environment
Author: J.L. Hatfield
Publisher: Elsevier
Published: 2008-08-28
Total Pages: 719
ISBN-13: 0080569897
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →Nitrogen is one of the most critical elements for all life forms. In agricultural systems it is essential for the production of crops for feed, food, and fiber. The ever-increasing world population requires increasing use of nitrogen in agriculture to supply human needs for dietary protein. Worldwide demand for nitrogen will increase as a direct response to increasing population. Nitrogen in the Environment provides a wholistic perspective and comprehensive treatment of nitrogen. The scope of this book is diverse covering a range of topics and issues related to furthering our understanding of nitrogen in the environment at farm and national levels. Issues of nitrogen from its effects on crops and human nutrition to nitrogen in ground water, watersheds, streams, rivers, and coastal marine environments are discussed to provide a broad view of the problem and support scientists, researchers, and engineers in formulating comprehensive solutions. The only source which presents an international, wholistic perspective of the effects of nitrogen in the environment with worldwide mitigation practices Provides details on how to improve the quality of the environment by analyzing the development of emerging technologies Develops strategies to be used by soil scientists, agronomists, hydrologists, and geophysicists for broad scale improvement of nitrogen efficiency
Nitrogen Use and Behavior in Crop Production
Author: L. Fred Welch
Publisher:
Published: 1979
Total Pages: 60
ISBN-13:
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →Most plants absorbmore nitrogen than any other nutrient. Because the amount needed is so large and easily be lost from many soils, nitrogen is usually the most limiting nutrient for plant growth. Although about 79 percent of the atmosphere is nitrogen, only nitrogen-fixingplants such as legumeswith their associated bacteria are able to use this abundant source. The nonleguminous grain crops must receive supplemental nitrogen to produce satisfactory yields. Until the last few decades the supply of available nitrogen in the soil was increased primarily by legumes and manure. These sources should be used when economically feasible, but many important grain-producing areas of the world must now rely on commercial fertilizer nitrogen. For economic reasons researchers and growers have been interested for many years in improving yields from each unit of nitrogen. Recently, however, the efficient use of nitrogen has become an environmental issue as well, because high nitrate concentrations in water may be harmful to humans, especiali infants, and to livestock. If plants absorb more of the addedfertilizer nitrogen, then less is likely to leach from fields into drinking water. Improving nitrogen efficiency has also become crucial in order to conserve dwinling supplies of natural gas, which is used in large quantities to manufacture nitrogenfertilizers.
