Interplay of urbanization and agricultural modernization shapes nitrogen use in global croplands

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http://eprints.org/relation/isVersionOf https://pure.iiasa.ac.at/id/document/113399 http://eprints.org/relation/isVolatileVersionOf https://pure.iiasa.ac.at/id/document/113399 http://eprints.org/relation/issmallThumbnailVersionOf https://pure.iiasa.ac.at/id/document/113399 archive 353 disk0/00/02/14/51 2026-04-07 12:21:33 2026-04-07 12:21:33 2026-04-07 12:21:33 article show Wang S. Zhang X. 2529 0000-0002-1961-3339 Deng O. Gu B. Interplay of urbanization and agricultural modernization shapes nitrogen use in global croplands inpress ECE ECEPM Urbanization reshapes agricultural systems through labor and land-use changes, interacting with modernization processes including farm size expansion, mechanization, and irrigation to drive nonlinear trends in cropland nitrogen use. Using a 61-year dataset from 139 countries, here we show that the association between urbanization and nitrogen outcomes is profoundly nonlinear and contingent on development stages. In low-income countries, urbanization initially increases fertilizer use while suppressing nitrogen yield and efficiency, though larger farm sizes mitigate these early losses. As countries reach upper-middle-income levels, modernization enhances nitrogen efficiency but introduces trade-offs between environmental gains and yield growth. In high-income countries, advanced modernization mitigates adverse urban impacts, reversing nitrogen use efficiency from a 4% decline to a 12% gain at high urbanization levels. These findings indicate that there is no universal sustainability pathway. Instead, integrating land consolidation, mechanization, and precision irrigation can transform urbanization into a catalyst for sustainable management and resilient food systems. 2026-03-27 published Nature Publishing Group doi:10.1038/s41467-026-71251-z 3828 public Nature Communications TRUE 2041-1723 info:eu-repo/semantics/article