Improving nitrogen use efficiency

Description

In the last 60 years fertiliser use in agriculture has increased by 900%. However, it’s been reported that up to 80% of these fertilisers are not utilised by crops but are lost to the environment as nitrous oxide, ammonia and nitrate. Improving nitrogen use efficiency is recognised as one possible solution to reducing the sector’s environmental impact and optimising its productivity and sustainability in the face of increasing pressure to feed a growing population.

Improving nitrogen use efficiency in crop production reviews recent advances in understanding nitrogen cycling in soil and best practices to assess crop nitrogen status, such as the use of proximal sensors and remote sensing techniques. The book considers developments in the use of inorganic nitrogen fertilisers and their effectiveness in optimising nitrogen use efficiency, as well as how more organic sources of nitrogen, such as livestock manure, can be optimised to achieve the same goal.

Key features

• Considers the role of fertiliser use in agriculture as a major contributor to the imbalance of the global nitrogen cycle
• Reviews the effectiveness of inorganic nitrogen fertilisers and organic sources of nitrogen in optimising nitrogen use efficiency
• Highlights recent developments in the use of enhanced efficiency nitrogen fertilisers to reduce nitrous oxide emissions

Table of contents

View/pre-order chapters

Part 1 Understanding nitrogen cycling in crop production

• 1.Advances in understanding nitrogen cycling in soil: Claudia Wagner-Riddle, University of Guelph, Canada
• 2.Advances in understanding crop plant growth and nitrogen use efficiency: Brent Kaiser, University of Sydney, Australia
• 3.Challenges and opportunities in breeding for improving nitrogen use efficiency in crops: Nandula Raghuram, Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, India
• 4.A new paradigm for improving the effective use of nitrogen (N) on major field crops: Ignacio Ciampitti, Kansas State University, USA

Part 2 Monitoring and optimising nitrogen use

• 5.Developments in proximal sensors to detect crop nitrogen status: Brenda Tubana, Louisiana State University, USA
• 6.Matching/synchronising nitrogen fertiliser application to crop nitrogen needs: Bijay Singh, Punjab Agricultural University, India
• 7.Developments in the use of enhanced efficiency nitrogen fertilisers including new generation of fertilisers: Deli Chen, University of Melbourne, Australia
• 8.Assessing the effectiveness of sub-surface/deep banding nitrogen fertiliser application: Chelsea Janke, University of Queensland, Australia
• 9.Advances in modelling/decision support systems for optimising nitrogen fertiliser application: Harold Van Es, Cornell University, USA
• 10.Economic perspectives on nitrogen in cropping systems: David Pannell, University of Western Australia, Australia

Part 3 Organic sources of nitrogen

• 11.Optimising livestock manure as a source of nitrogen and other nutrients: Masoud Hashemi, University of Massachusetts, USA
• 12.Improving soil management to optimise nitrogen use efficiency: Alan Franzluebbers, USDA-ARS, USA
• 13.Optimising cover crops and intercrops as a source of nitrogen: Iris V. Cronin, Aarhus University, Denmark
• 14.The role of rotations and/or break crops in optimising nitrogen use efficiency: Lucie Chmelikova, Technical University of Munich, Germany