Managing nitrogen for sustainable development

Xin Zhang (), Eric A. Davidson (), Denise L. Mauzerall, Timothy D. Searchinger, Patrice Dumas and Ye Shen
Additional contact information
Xin Zhang: Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University
Eric A. Davidson: Appalachian Laboratory, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science
Denise L. Mauzerall: Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University
Timothy D. Searchinger: Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University
Patrice Dumas: Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (CIRAD)
Ye Shen: College of Public Health, University of Georgia

Nature, 2015, vol. 528, issue 7580, 51-59

Abstract: Abstract Improvements in nitrogen use efficiency in crop production are critical for addressing the triple challenges of food security, environmental degradation and climate change. Such improvements are conditional not only on technological innovation, but also on socio-economic factors that are at present poorly understood. Here we examine historical patterns of agricultural nitrogen-use efficiency and find a broad range of national approaches to agricultural development and related pollution. We analyse examples of nitrogen use and propose targets, by geographic region and crop type, to meet the 2050 global food demand projected by the Food and Agriculture Organization while also meeting the Sustainable Development Goals pertaining to agriculture recently adopted by the United Nations General Assembly. Furthermore, we discuss socio-economic policies and technological innovations that may help achieve them.

Date: 2015
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (167)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/nature15743 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:nature:v:528:y:2015:i:7580:d:10.1038_nature15743

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/

DOI: 10.1038/nature15743

Access Statistics for this article

Nature is currently edited by Magdalena Skipper

More articles in Nature from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().