Reducing environmental risk by improving N management in intensive Chinese agricultural systems
Open accessAbstract
Excessive N fertilization in intensive agricultural areas of China has resulted in serious environmental problems because of atmospheric, soil, and water enrichment with reactive N of agricultural origin. This study examines grain yields and N loss pathways using a synthetic approach in 2 of the most intensive double-cropping systems in China: waterlogged rice/upland wheat in the Taihu region of east China versus irrigated wheat/rainfed maize on the North China Plain. When compared with knowledge-based optimum N fertilization with 30-60% N savings, we found that current agricultural N practices with 550-600 kg of N per hectare fertilizer annually do not significantly increase crop yields but do lead to about 2 times larger N losses to the environment. The higher N loss rates and lower N retention rates indicate little utilization of residual N by the succeeding crop in rice/wheat systems in comparison with wheat/maize systems. Periodic waterlogging of upland systems caused large N losses by denitrification in the Taihu region. Calcareous soils and concentrated summer rainfall resulted in ammonia volatilization (19% for wheat and 24% for maize) and nitrate leaching being the main N loss pathways in wheat/maize systems. More than 2-fold increases in atmospheric deposition and irrigation water N reflect heavy air and water pollution and these have become important N sources to agricultural ecosystems. A better N balance can be achieved without sacrificing crop yields but significantly reducing environmental risk by adopting optimum N fertilization techniques, controlling the primary N loss pathways, and improving the performance of the agricultural Extension Service.
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Optimizing nitrogen use and improving nutrient use efficiency can significantly reduce atmospheric, soil and water enrichment of reactive nitrogen, as well as GHG emissions.
“Optimizing nitrogen use and improving nutrient use efficiency can significantly reduce atmospheric, soil and water enrichment of reactive nitrogen, as well as GHG emissions [100,101].”
From Biomass and biofuels in China: Toward bioenergy resource potentials and their impacts on the environment (2018) · cites this paper as [100]
In the major food producing areas in China (e.g., NE, NC, YR, SC), over fertilization has been a major threat to environmental sustainability.
“In the major food producing areas in China (e.g., NE, NC, YR, SC), over fertilization has been a major threat to environmental sustainability.”
From Biomass and biofuels in China: Toward bioenergy resource potentials and their impacts on the environment (2018) · cites this paper as [100]
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- Authors
- Ju, X.-T., Xing, G.-X., Chen, X.-P., Zhang, S.-L., Zhang, L.-J., Liu, X.-J., Cui, Z.-L., Yin, B., Christie, P., Zhu, Z.-L., & Zhang, F.-S.
- Affiliations
- Key Laboratory of Plant and Soil Interactions, Ministry of Education, China, and College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China;
- State Key Laboratory of Soil and Sustainable Agriculture, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China;
- College of Agricultural Resources and Environmental Sciences, Hebei Agricultural University, Baoding 071001, China; and
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- Agri Food and Biosciences Institute (GB)
- Venue
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- Publisher
- National Academy of Sciences
- Published
- 2009-03-03
- Volume
- 106
- Issue
- 9
- Pages
- 3041-3046
- ISSN
- 0027-8424 (ISSN-L)
- 1091-6490
- PMC
- PMC2644255
- OpenAlex
- W2036538049
- Cited by
- 2,599
- References
- 51
- Citations by year
- 2026: 150 · 2025: 137 · 2024: 158 · 2023: 196 · 2022: 253 · 2021: 248 · 2020: 220 · 2019: 190 · 2018: 199 · 2017: 148 · 2016: 140 · 2015: 144 · 2014: 124 · 2013: 95 · 2012: 74
- FWCI
- 49.24
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Update notices
- correction (2009-05-12)
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Research Portal (Queen's University Belfast) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung
- Government of Jiangsu Province
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Chemistry › Soil and Water Nutrient Dynamics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Soil Science › Agricultural Science and Fertilization
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Soil Science › Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics
- Keywords
- nitrogen management, nitrogen fertilization, nitrogen loss pathways, double cropping, rice-wheat cropping system, denitrification, ammonia volatilization, nitrate leaching, residual nitrogen, nitrogen balance, atmospheric deposition, Taihu region, North China Plain, agricultural extension, grain yield, calcareous soils
- MeSH terms
- Agriculture, China, Environment, Nitrogen, Risk, Crops, Agricultural
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