Journal ArticleDOI
Plant nutrient management for enhanced productivity in intensive grain production systems of the United States and Asia
Reads0
Chats0
TLDR
In this article, the authors evaluated the current nutrient management recommendations and their scientific basis in large-scale, mechanized maize (Zea mays L.)based cropping systems of the USA and more labor-intensive, small-scale irrigated rice (Oryza sativa L.) production systems in Asia.Abstract:
Are present nutrient management recommendations for the world's major cereal cropping systems adequate to sustain the productivity gains required to meet food demand while also assuring acceptable standards of environmental quality? To address this question, the current nutrient management approaches and their scientific basis in large-scale, mechanized maize (Zea mays L.)-based cropping systems of the USA and more labor-intensive, small-scale irrigated rice (Oryza sativa L.) production systems in Asia were evaluated. The principal challenges in both systems are similar: (1) there is no compelling evidence for significant increases in the genetic yield potential in both systems during the past 30 years, (2) farm yields are presently about 40–65% of the attainable yield potential, and (3) nutrient management mostly relies on approaches that do not account for the dynamic nature of crop response to the environment. Because average farm yield levels of 70–80% of the attainable yield potential are necessary to meet expected food demand in the next 30 years, research must seek to develop nutrient management approaches that optimize profit, preserve soil quality, and protect natural resources in systems that consistently produce at these high yield levels. Achieving these goals will require novel strategies for more precise plant nutrient management tailored to the technologies, dynamics and spatial scales relevant to each system. Significant advances in soil chemistry, crop physiology, plant nutrition, molecular biology, and information technology must be combined in this effort. Future field-oriented plant nutrition research must be of a more strategic, interdisciplinary, and quantitative nature. Systems approaches at micro- to meso-scales are required for gaining a more quantitative understanding of crop response to nutrients based on interactions among the essential crop nutrient requirements and on response to dynamic environmental conditions.read more
Citations
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI
Meeting Cereal Demand While Protecting Natural Resources and Improving Environmental Quality
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors evaluate the potential for conserving natural resources while meeting increased demand for cereals, and conclude that avoiding expansion of cultivation into natural ecosystems, increased nitrogen use efficiency, and improved soil quality are pivotal components of a sustainable agriculture that meets human needs and protects natural resources.
Journal ArticleDOI
Agronomic phosphorus imbalances across the world's croplands
TL;DR: Resolving agronomic P imbalances may be possible with more efficient use of P fertilizers and more effective recycling of manure P, to increase global agricultural productivity while maintaining or improving freshwater quality.
Journal ArticleDOI
Fertilizing nature: a tragedy of excess in the commons.
Allen G. Good,Perrin H. Beatty +1 more
TL;DR: Why has nitrogen fertilizer use declined in some countries while increasing in others, despite significant environmental harm?
Journal ArticleDOI
Task force report
Bob Margulies,McDonnnell Douglas +1 more
TL;DR: This Task Force held two meetings: the first meeting was Dec. 10, 2005, in the Kaw Room at the Hays House, with all the above in attendance; the second meeting was held Feb. 3, 2006, at the Kansas Wildlife and Parks (KWP) Headquarters at Council Grove Reservoir, so that we could interact with key personnel from the Community Fishing Assistance Program (CFAP).
References
More filters
Book
Soil Fertility and Fertilizers: An Introduction to Nutrient Management
TL;DR: In this article, basic Soil-Plant Relationships are discussed, and the authors present an overview of the current state of the art in terms of agricultural productivity and environmental quality.
Journal ArticleDOI
Soil Fertility and Fertilizers
TL;DR: Soil fertility and fertilizers, Soil fertility, fertilizers and soil fertility and fertility, this paper, soil fertility, soil fertility, fertility, and fertilization, etc.
Journal ArticleDOI
Agroecosystems, Nitrogen-use Efficiency, and Nitrogen Management
TL;DR: The global challenge of meeting increased food demand and protecting environmental quality will be won or lost in cropping systems that produce maize, rice, and wheat as discussed by the authors, and the research agenda and developing effective policies to meet this challenge requires quantitative understanding of current levels of N-use efficiency and losses in these systems, the biophysical controls on these factors, and the economic returns from adoption of improved management practices.
Journal ArticleDOI
Greenhouse gases in intensive agriculture: contributions of individual gases to the radiative forcing of the atmosphere.
TL;DR: None of the annual cropping systems provided net mitigation, although soil carbon accumulation in no-till systems came closest to mitigating all other sources of GWP, and the late successional system, GWP was neutral because of significant methane oxidation.