Agronomic and environmental trends and developments in the use of mineral nitrogen fertilizers
Estimated global food demand for 2050 indicate that food production will have to increase by 50 to 100% between 2010 and 2050. This also increase the crop need for nutrients. However, inefficient use of both organic and mineral fertilizers has harmful effects on soil, water and air quality. Strategies are needed to increase nutrient use efficiency and to decrease the environmental impact of the use of fertilizers. Urea is an important mineral nitrogen fertilizer on a global scale. It is widely used in different cropping systems. However, gaseous nitrogen losses as ammonia from urea may be high, which decrease the nitrogen use efficiency. Ammonia is harmful for human health and ammonia deposition to nature increase soil acidification and affect biodiversity. Incorporation of solid urea, injection of liquid urea fertilizer, the use of urease inhibitors and coating of urea fertilizers are all techniques to decrease the risk of ammonia emission and to increase nitrogen use efficiency.
About Gerard Velthof
Dr. Gerard Velthof is soil scientist (Wageningen University) and working in the field of nutrient management and greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture to the environment for 30 years.
He has an PhD on nitrous oxide emissions from soils. He has participated in several European projects, including projects on agri-environmental indicators and nitrogen losses from agriculture.
He is coordinator of a large research programme in the Netherlands on nutrients in agriculture. He is member of the committee in the Netherlands that determine the fertilizer recommendations for grasslands and fodder crops. He has published about 70 papers in international scientific journals with peer review as first or co-author. He is involved in many advisory projects for the ministry of agriculture in the Netherlands in which results from scientific research is translated into recommendations for policy makers.
About Wageningen Environmental Research
Wageningen Environmental Research is the research institute for our green living environment. We offer a combination of practical and scientific research in a multitude of disciplines related to the green world around us and the sustainable use of our living environment. Flora and fauna, soil, water, the environment, geo-information and remote sensing, landscape and spatial planning, man and society: just a few of the numerous aspects of our green environment that Wageningen Environmental Research focuses on. In research and education we closely co-operate with the school of Environmental Sciences from Wageningen University. With this partner we contribute to a high quality and sustainable green living environment. The exchange of expertise and capacity and the match between fundamental and practical research in various projects give us a scientific advantage.
