Structure and function in agroecosystem design and management

0206279 - UPB-H 20013115 RIV SIGLE US eng M - Monography Chapter
Šimek, Miloslav - Cooper, J. E.
Nitrogen use efficiency in temperate zone arable lands.
Structure and function in agroecosystem design and management. Washington: CRC Press, 2001, s. 227-251
Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z6066911
Keywords : agroecosystem * management
Subject RIV: EH - Ecology, Behaviour

Significant improvements in nitrogen use efficiency should be immediately attainable through implementation of the fertilizer, soil and crop management practices. Better understanding of soil organic N mineralization at the site level is, however, still needed for fertilizer application rates to be more precisely matched to crop requirements. The universal adoption of practices that optimize fertilizer nitrogen efficiency will reduce future emissions of N2 and N2O to the atmosphere only if the predicted increase in worldwide N fertilizer usage can be severely curtailed. This is also likely to be the case for nitrate losses via runoff and leaching. In the longer term the manipulation of photosynthetic efficiency (the ultimate biological constraint on increased yield) in crop plants, or the extension of biological nitrogen fixation to cereals, may allow a reduction in the amounts of nitrogen fertilizers used in agriculture.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0101875