N ational and international openaccess agricultural research databases are needed to help solve problems at watershed, regional, and national scales, and to connect productivity, soil health, and environmental quality to food quantity and quality. There are some established, openaccess agricultural research networks with extensive research data in the United States, but there is a major need to improve connections between those networks and the emerging data in order to address complex questions. Improving the connections and flow of information among agricultural research networks will enhance the scientific community's ability to simultaneously increase crop yield, sustainability of natural resources, and environmental quality, as well as food, feed, and forage quality, and thus human and animal health. Establishing a network of agricultural databases is crucial for facilitating information flow among different research disciplines. Doing so will also enhance multidisciplinary research opportunities and help build transdisciplinary teams that can provide answers to complex, whole-system research questions and thus solve some of the globe's greatest challenges. GLOBAL CHALLENGES The ever-growing human population is facing one of the greatest challenges of the twenty-first century: to ensure the sustainability of agricultural and natural systems. Both are under the pressure of a changing climate and the increase in extreme events that accompanies it. A statement by the United Nations (UN) Secretary General about a special climate change report recently released by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, warns the global community that climate change is occurring at a faster rate than humanity is addressing it and that environmental consequences, including more extreme weather and sea level rise, will continue impacting humanity in the years to come (United Nations 2018).
The Andean region of Ecuador is being impacted by climate change, and improved best management practices for agriculture are needed to increase yields and food security. We conducted a study comparing different nitrogen (N) rates to determine the optimum N application rate for potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) systems in this region. We examined five application rates of N: 0, 100, 200, 300, and 400 kg N ha − 1 . The results suggest that an N application rate of 300 kg N ha − 1 increased productivity and net income by 87% and 146%, respectively, compared to no application of N. We transferred these improved practices to farmers, and all farms increased their yields and net economic returns. The average yields and net economic returns for these farmers increased by 50% and 64%, respectively. Additional N use efficiency (NUE) studies are needed to continue increasing yields and economic returns for farmers in the Andean region.
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