A Research Road Map for Responsible Use of Agricultural Nitrogen

Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems

G. Philip Robertson¹  Susanne Schmidt²  Mechthild Tegeder³  John W. Peters⁴  Xuejun Liu⁵  Michael J. Castellano⁶  Frederick E. Below⁷  Jagdish Kumar Ladha⁸  Tai McClellan Maaz⁹  Alison J. Eagle^1,10  Barbara Nova-Franco^1,11  Malay Saha^1,11  Michael Udvardi^1,11  Larry M. York^1,11  Sonali Roy^1,11  Ken E. Giller^1,12  Nandula Raghuram^1,13 

[1] 0W. K. Kellogg Biological Station and Department of Plant, Soil, and Microbial Sciences, Michigan State University, Hickory Corners, MI, United States;1School of Agriculture and Food Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia;2School of Biological Sciences, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, United States;3Institute of Biological Chemistry, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, United States;College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China;Department of Agronomy, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, United States;Department of Crop Sciences, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL, United States;Department of Plant Sciences, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, United States;Department of Tropical Plant and Soil Sciences, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI, United States;Environmental Defense Fund, Raleigh, NC, United States;Noble Research Institute, LLC, Ardmore, OK, United States;Plant Production Systems group, Department of Plant Sciences, Wageningen University, Wageningen, Netherlands;School of Biotechnology, Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, New Delhi, India;

关键词: agronomy;    biological nitrogen fixation;    breeding;    microbiome;    nitrogen use efficiency;    policy;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fsufs.2021.660155

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Nitrogen (N) is an essential but generally limiting nutrient for biological systems. Development of the Haber-Bosch industrial process for ammonia synthesis helped to relieve N limitation of agricultural production, fueling the Green Revolution and reducing hunger. However, the massive use of industrial N fertilizer has doubled the N moving through the global N cycle with dramatic environmental consequences that threaten planetary health. Thus, there is an urgent need to reduce losses of reactive N from agriculture, while ensuring sufficient N inputs for food security. Here we review current knowledge related to N use efficiency (NUE) in agriculture and identify research opportunities in the areas of agronomy, plant breeding, biological N fixation (BNF), soil N cycling, and modeling to achieve responsible, sustainable use of N in agriculture. Amongst these opportunities, improved agricultural practices that synchronize crop N demand with soil N availability are low-hanging fruit. Crop breeding that targets root and shoot physiological processes will likely increase N uptake and utilization of soil N, while breeding for BNF effectiveness in legumes will enhance overall system NUE. Likewise, engineering of novel N-fixing symbioses in non-legumes could reduce the need for chemical fertilizers in agroecosystems but is a much longer-term goal. The use of simulation modeling to conceptualize the complex, interwoven processes that affect agroecosystem NUE, along with multi-objective optimization, will also accelerate NUE gains.

【 授权许可】

Unknown