Nitrogen Losses and Potential Mitigation Strategies for a Sustainable Agroecosystem

Kishan Mahmud, Dinesh Panday, Anaas Mergoum and Ali Missaoui
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Kishan Mahmud: Center for Applied Genetic Technologies, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA
Dinesh Panday: Department of Biosystems Engineering & Soil Science, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA
Anaas Mergoum: Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND 58102, USA
Ali Missaoui: Center for Applied Genetic Technologies, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 4, 1-23

Abstract: Nitrogen (N) in the agricultural production system influences many aspects of agroecosystems and several critical ecosystem services widely depend on the N availability in the soil. Cumulative changes in regional ecosystem services may lead to global environmental changes. Thus, the soil N status in agriculture is of critical importance to strategize its most efficient use. Nitrogen is also one of the most susceptible macronutrients to environmental loss, such as ammonia volatilization (NH 3 ), nitrous oxide (N 2 O) emissions, nitrate leaching (NO 3 ), etc. Any form of N losses from agricultural systems can be major limitations for crop production, soil sustainability, and environmental safeguard. There is a need to focus on mitigation strategies to minimize global N pollution and implement agricultural management practices that encourage regenerative and sustainable agriculture. In this review, we identified the avenues of N loss into the environment caused by current agronomic practices and discussed the potential practices that can be adapted to prevent this N loss in production agriculture. This review also explored the N status in agriculture during the COVID-19 pandemic and the existing knowledge gaps and questions that need to be addressed.

Keywords: nitrogen; nitrate leaching; nitrous oxide; soil resilience; soil microbiome; regenerative agriculture; ecological ditch (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (13)

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