The Indian Nitrogen Challenge in a Global Perspective

Sutton, Mark A.; Drewer, Julia; Móring, Andrea; Adhya, T. K.; Ahmed, Aquil; Bhatia, Arti; Brownlie, Will J.; Dragosits, Ulrike; Ghude, Sachin D.; Hillier, J. A.; Hooda, Sunila; Howard, Clare; Jain, Niveta; Kumar, Dinesh; Kumar, Rajiv; Nayak, Dali Rani; Neeraja, C. N.; Prasanna, Radha; Price, Adam H.; Ramakrishnan, B.; Reay, Dave; Singh, Ravender; Skiba, U.; Smith, Jo; Sohi, Saran; Subrahmanyan, D.; Surekha, K.; Grinsven, Hans van; Vieno, Massimo; Voleti, S. R.; Pathak, Himanshu; Raghuram, Nandula

doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-811836-8.00002-1

Cited by 20 publications

(13 citation statements)

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“…Together these changes demonstrate how alkaline air is becoming increasingly important across the UK countryside, in a pattern that is reflected across much of Europe and North America [40,41]. A corresponding trend is now occurring in China, following implementation of SO 2 emission controls from 2012 [42], while in India, NO x emissions have been increasing even faster than NH 3 emissions [43]. The gaseous alkaline fraction (expressed as NH 3 divided by the sum of NH 3 , 2SO 2 , HNO 3 and HCl) is now at 88% in the UK (electronic supplementary material, §4), while estimated global variation is shown in figure 3.…”

Section: Ammonia and Present-day Changes In Air Pollution Climatementioning

confidence: 99%

Alkaline air: changing perspectives on nitrogen and air pollution in an ammonia-rich world

Sutton

Dijk

Levy

et al. 2020

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A.

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Ammonia and ammonium have received less attention than other forms of air pollution, with limited progress in controlling emissions at UK, European and global scales. By contrast, these compounds have been of significant past interest to science and society, the recollection of which can inform future strategies. Sal ammoniac ( nūshādir , nao sha ) is found to have been extremely valuable in long-distance trade ( ca AD 600–1150) from Egypt and China, where 6–8 kg N could purchase a human life, while air pollution associated with nūshādir collection was attributed to this nitrogen form. Ammonia was one of the keys to alchemy—seen as an early experimental mesocosm to understand the world—and later became of interest as ‘alkaline air’ within the eighteenth century development of pneumatic chemistry. The same economic, chemical and environmental properties are found to make ammonia and ammonium of huge relevance today. Successful control of acidifying SO 2 and NO x emissions leaves atmospheric NH 3 in excess in many areas, contributing to particulate matter (PM 2.5 ) formation, while leading to a new significance of alkaline air, with adverse impacts on natural ecosystems. Investigations of epiphytic lichens and bog ecosystems show how the alkalinity effect of NH 3 may explain its having three to five times the adverse effect of ammonium and nitrate, respectively. It is concluded that future air pollution policy should no longer neglect ammonia. Progress is likely to be mobilized by emphasizing the lost economic value of global N emissions ($200 billion yr −1 ), as part of developing the circular economy for sustainable nitrogen management. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue ‘Air quality, past present and future’.

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Section: Ammonia and Present-day Changes In Air Pollution Climatementioning

confidence: 99%

Alkaline air: changing perspectives on nitrogen and air pollution in an ammonia-rich world

Sutton

Dijk

Levy

et al. 2020

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A.

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“…2 Recent research highlights that the anthropogenic N fixation from biological nitrogen fixation (BNF), fertilizers and combustion is estimated as 220 Mt per year against 65 Mt as the natural N fixation from BNF and lightning. 3 This indicates that the extent of human perturbation in N cycle. 4 After north America and Europe, Asian region has the third highest N deposition rates.…”

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confidence: 95%

Reactive Nitrogen: Alarming Note for New Fossil Fuel and Fertilizer Policies

Kulshrestha

2019

Curr. World Environ

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Dear ReadersThe present issue of the Current World Environment is presented before you. I thank the authors, reviewers and the journal secretariat for timely publishing the issue. This issue includes research papers from diversified subareas of environment as given in the table of content. This time we have included `Editorial Contributions' from our Editorial Board members. The theme of the Editorial of this issue is Reactive Nitrogen as detailed below-The food and energy demand of the global population has resulted in the rapid increase in the levels of reactive nitrogen species (Nr) such as NH 3 , NOx, NO 3 and NH 4 + etc. in the atmosphere across the globe. These compounds affect air quality, human health, climate, ozone levels, etc. NO 2 at high levels may be responsible for almost 2 million deaths per year due its indoor pollution effect. 1 NO 2 forms smog with excessive O 3 and organic compounds such as aldehydes, ketones and peroxyacyl nitrate (PAN) etc. The excess concentrations of the nitrogenous compounds have adverse impacts on water bodies causing eutrofication problem. Nr species are contributed by both natural as well as anthropogenic activities. Apart from natural sources, anthropogenic sources such as fertilizer production, fertilizer application, fossil fuel combustion and sanitation etc. are the major contributors of the Nr species. A comprehensive Nitrogen Assessment for India has been published by Abrol and co-workers. 2 Recent research highlights that the anthropogenic N fixation from biological nitrogen fixation (BNF), fertilizers and combustion is estimated as 220 Mt per year against 65 Mt as the natural N fixation from BNF and lightning. 3 This indicates that the extent of human perturbation in N cycle. 4 After north America and Europe, Asian region has the third highest N deposition rates. 5 The global anthropogenic Nr budgets have been

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“…The root of the problem is that only a proportion of N r content in applied fertilizers is used effectively by crops and grasslands. Therefore, the "nitrogen use efficiency" (NUE) of the global food system integrating crop and livestock production systems is very low, being around 15% (Sutton et al, 2017 based on Sutton et al, 2013). This means that 85% of N r applied is lost to air, groundwater or surface runoff, threatening the quality of air, soils, and fresh waters, driving climate change, and thereby endangering ecosystems and human-health Aneja et al, 2009;Sutton et al, 2011;Fowler et al, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In India, fertilizer consumption shows a continuously growing trend, with a yearly increase of 6% since 1970 (Sutton et al, 2017based on FAO, 2016. This can be observed on Figure 1, which shows the annual fertilizer consumption in India in comparison with population (showing a much weaker annual growth rate), and the annual GDP (showing a closer, but much clearer exponential growth over the years).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nitrogen Challenges and Opportunities for Agricultural and Environmental Science in India

Móring

Hooda

Raghuram

et al. 2021

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.

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In the last six decades, the consumption of reactive nitrogen (Nr) in the form of fertilizer in India has been growing rapidly, whilst the nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) of cropping systems has been decreasing. These trends have led to increasing environmental losses of Nr, threatening the quality of air, soils, and fresh waters, and thereby endangering climate-stability, ecosystems, and human-health. Since it has been suggested that the fertilizer consumption of India may double by 2050, there is an urgent need for scientific research to support better nitrogen management in Indian agriculture. In order to share knowledge and to develop a joint vision, experts from the UK and India came together for a conference and workshop on “Challenges and Opportunities for Agricultural Nitrogen Science in India.” The meeting concluded with three core messages: (1) Soil stewardship is essential and legumes need to be planted in rotation with cereals to increase nitrogen fixation in areas of limited Nr availability. Synthetic symbioses and plastidic nitrogen fixation are possibly disruptive technologies, but their potential and implications must be considered. (2) Genetic diversity of crops and new technologies need to be shared and exploited to reduce N losses and support productive, sustainable agriculture livelihoods. (3) The use of leaf color sensing shows great potential to reduce nitrogen fertilizer use (by 10–15%). This, together with the usage of urease inhibitors in neem-coated urea, and better management of manure, urine, and crop residues, could result in a 20–25% improvement in NUE of India by 2030.

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The Indian Nitrogen Challenge in a Global Perspective

Cited by 20 publications

References 14 publications

Alkaline air: changing perspectives on nitrogen and air pollution in an ammonia-rich world

Alkaline air: changing perspectives on nitrogen and air pollution in an ammonia-rich world

Reactive Nitrogen: Alarming Note for New Fossil Fuel and Fertilizer Policies

Nitrogen Challenges and Opportunities for Agricultural and Environmental Science in India

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