advisor

Share your ideas and experience of how to improve nutrient efficiency and reduce dependence on artificial fertilisers

What routes do we have to improving nutrient management?

  • Reducing nutrient demand
    • grow crops & varieties with low nutrient requirements
  • minimise losses from soil
    • cover crops to reduce leaching of nitrate over-winter
    • minimise soil runoff
  • Make the most of manures
  • Estimate nutrient requirements, accounting fully for crop demand and nutrient availability
  • Apply fertilisers accurately
  • improve fertiliser recovery
  • consider using Enhanced Efficiency Fertilisers
  • Consider foliar nutrition

 

Add more to the list below and share your ideas and experiences

 

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Nitrogen Use Efficiency is a widely used term increasingly discussed across industry and between farmers. However it can mean different things to different people, and is best defined with care.

ADAS are planning a Nutrition Challenge to compare the effect of different nutrition programmes on winter feed wheat yield, N uptake and gross margin, in the 2022/23 season. This is particularly timely following the recent dramatic rise in nitrogen fertiliser prices, which has forced the industry to re-examine nutrition strategies. Objectives of the project are to showcase good nutrition products and practices so that farmers are equipped and encouraged to use fertiliser better, for the benefit of the environment and their own gross margins.

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This Topic doesn't yet have a Stewarded summary, but connected groups, content and organisations show below. Click the 'Ask to Join' button if you would like to be a Steward for this Topic and provide a summary of current knowledge and recommend useful resources, organisations, networks and projects. "Like" this Topic if you would like to see it prioritised for providing a wikipedia style summary.

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Scientific paper setting out how GHG emissions from agriculture could be reduced through more efficient production and use of N fertiliser. Gao, Y., Cabrera Serrenho, A. (2023) Greenhouse gas emissions from nitrogen fertilizers could be reduced by up to one-fifth of current levels by 2050 with combined interventions. Nature Food. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-023-00698-w  

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