Plants, Fertilizer Nitrogen, and Environment: An Overview

Abstract

Fertilizer N has played a key role in increasing food production, especially of cereals and grasses in the world. However, fertilizer N has been also responsible for global warming, enhancing nitrate concentration in drinking water, and depleting the ozone layer. Crop plants also release ammonia, while trees absorb ammonia from the atmosphere. Agriculture soil can contribute 84% of global N2O emission and it is now considered nitrogen next after CO2 for global warming. In India, the average nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) is 33% which is far-reaching 50% acceptable and its consumption increased by 52 times from 1961 to 2018, but cereals production by 3.6 times. Therefore, approaches, such as, 4R, LCC, SPAD, Green Seeker, using control, and slow-release nitrogen fertilizers, using inhibitors along with SSNM may improve NUE in the developing world.