https://pure.iiasa.ac.at/id/eprint/13766 2021-08-27T17:41:35Z info:eu-repo/semantics/descriptiveMetadata https://pure.iiasa.ac.at/id/eprint/13766/ Global assessment of nitrogen losses and trade-offs with yields from major crop cultivations Liu, W. Yang, H. Liu, J. Azevedo, L.B. Wang, X. Xu, Z. Abbaspour, K.C. Schulin, R. Agricultural application of reactive nitrogen (N) for fertilization is a cause of massive negative environmental problems on a global scale. However, spatially explicit and crop-specific information on global N losses into the environment and knowledge of trade-offs between N losses and crop yields are largely lacking. We use a crop growth model, Python-based Environmental Policy Integrated Climate (PEPIC), to determine global N losses from three major food crops: maize, rice, and wheat. Simulated total N losses into the environment (including water and atmosphere) are 44 Tg N yr− 1. Two thirds of these, or 29 Tg N yr− 1, are losses to water alone. Rice accounts for the highest N losses, followed by wheat and maize. The N loss intensity (NLI), defined as N losses per unit of yield, is used to address trade-offs between N losses and crop yields. The NLI presents high variation among different countries, indicating diverse N losses to produce the same amount of yields. Simulations of mitigation scenarios indicate that redistributing global N inputs and improving N management could significantly abate N losses and at the same time even increase yields without any additional total N inputs Elsevier 2016-12-01 Article PeerReviewed Liu, W., Yang, H., Liu, J., Azevedo, L.B. <https://pure.iiasa.ac.at/view/iiasa/21.html>, Wang, X., Xu, Z., Abbaspour, K.C., & Schulin, R. (2016). Global assessment of nitrogen losses and trade-offs with yields from major crop cultivations. Science of The Total Environment 572 526-537. 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.08.093 <https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.08.093>. 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.08.093 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.08.093 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.08.093 info:eu-repo/semantics/humanStartPage