Cost-effective mitigation of nitrogen pollution from global croplands

Baojing Gu (), Xiuming Zhang, Shu Kee Lam, Yingliang Yu, Hans J. M. Grinsven, Shaohui Zhang, Xiaoxi Wang, Benjamin Leon Bodirsky, Sitong Wang, Jiakun Duan, Chenchen Ren, Lex Bouwman, Wim Vries, Jianming Xu (), Mark A. Sutton and Deli Chen
Additional contact information
Baojing Gu: Zhejiang University
Xiuming Zhang: The University of Melbourne
Shu Kee Lam: The University of Melbourne
Yingliang Yu: Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences
Hans J. M. Grinsven: PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency
Shaohui Zhang: Beihang University
Xiaoxi Wang: Zhejiang University
Benjamin Leon Bodirsky: Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK)
Sitong Wang: Zhejiang University
Jiakun Duan: Zhejiang University
Chenchen Ren: Zhejiang University
Lex Bouwman: PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency
Wim Vries: Wageningen University & Research
Jianming Xu: Zhejiang University
Mark A. Sutton: UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
Deli Chen: The University of Melbourne

Nature, 2023, vol. 613, issue 7942, 77-84

Abstract: Abstract Cropland is a main source of global nitrogen pollution1,2. Mitigating nitrogen pollution from global croplands is a grand challenge because of the nature of non-point-source pollution from millions of farms and the constraints to implementing pollution-reduction measures, such as lack of financial resources and limited nitrogen-management knowledge of farmers3. Here we synthesize 1,521 field observations worldwide and identify 11 key measures that can reduce nitrogen losses from croplands to air and water by 30–70%, while increasing crop yield and nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) by 10–30% and 10–80%, respectively. Overall, adoption of this package of measures on global croplands would allow the production of 17 ± 3 Tg (1012 g) more crop nitrogen (20% increase) with 22 ± 4 Tg less nitrogen fertilizer used (21% reduction) and 26 ± 5 Tg less nitrogen pollution (32% reduction) to the environment for the considered base year of 2015. These changes could gain a global societal benefit of 476 ± 123 billion US dollars (USD) for food supply, human health, ecosystems and climate, with net mitigation costs of only 19 ± 5 billion USD, of which 15 ± 4 billion USD fertilizer saving offsets 44% of the gross mitigation cost. To mitigate nitrogen pollution from croplands in the future, innovative policies such as a nitrogen credit system (NCS) could be implemented to select, incentivize and, where necessary, subsidize the adoption of these measures.

Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-05481-8

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