By Nyang’au Araka and FAO
Experts have warned that improper use of nitrogen can severely damage air, water, and soil quality, result in biodiversity loss, and exacerbate climate change.
In fact, the rise in nitrogen fertilizers over the past century has significantly contributed to enhancing agricultural production, according to a report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
Also Read
This has also led to the bolstering food security and nutrition for an expanding global population.
The report provides a comprehensive overview of nitrogen use and the resulting challenges in agrifood systems.
It emphasizes the importance of ensuring sustainable use and offers recommendations to achieve this goal.
Nitrogen is an essential component of food constituents, particularly amino acids and proteins required for the growth of plants, animals, and humans.
Thanks to the invention of the Haber–Bosch process in the early 20th century, humans have been able to convert unreactive nitrogen, abundant in the atmosphere (the same nitrogen that makes the sky blue), into useful substances like ammonia, which is now commonly used as fertilizer.
Humans currently add approximately 150 teragrams (Tg) of reactive nitrogen to the Earth’s land surface each year through agriculture and industry.
This amount is more than double the pre-industrial rate. Some experts suggest that climate change could contribute to this rate raising to about 600 Tg per year by 2100, which could increase the levels of nitrogen loss into the environment.
Nitrogen emissions
Livestock are the main contributors to nitrogen emissions and are responsible for about one-third of the total nitrogen emissions produced by human activity, according to the report, whose brief was shared by FAO media desk.
“Synthetic fertilizers, land-use change, and manure emissions are the main causes of nitrogen pollution in this area,” the briefing said.
Nitrogen pollution is most severe in North America, Western Europe and certain Asian countries, where fertilizers have been extensively used and misused for decades.
In some low- and middle-income countries restricted access to fertilizers leads to the depletion of nitrogen, which reduces soil nutrients and leads to soil degradation.
A judicious use of nitrogen in agriculture, therefore, helps prevent soil degradation and nutrient depletion while increasing crop yields.
In contrast, excessive use exacerbates global warming, degrades air and water quality, and depletes stratospheric ozone. Nitrogen pollution poses risks to human health by increasing the incidence of respiratory and heart diseases.
Sustainable nitrogen management that focuses on minimizing external inputs and losses and maximizing recycling is more urgent than ever.
“Nitrogen Use Efficiency (NUE) has seen improvements in recent years, which is encouraging,” stated Thanawat Tiensin, Assistant Director-General and Director of the Animal Production and Health Division at FAO.
“The report provides a detailed set of recommendations to further enhance NUE, helping to reduce pollution while promoting environmental and human health.”
