by Paula Rojas
Is there a natural alternative to reduce fertilizer losses from agricultural soils?
Current plant crops can only take up between 30 and 50% of the nitrogen coming from the nitrogen fertilizer inputs. Nitrogen requirements are supplied as ammonium or urea, which are then oxidized to nitrate via the microbe mediated process of nitrification. Nitrate is very mobile in soil, and can easily become leached or further converted to nitrous oxide (N2O), a quite potent greenhouse gas. Thus, high nitrification rates can contribute to high nitrogen losses from agricultural soils, and consequently to a low nitrogen use efficiency of crops.
To counteract this, the inhibition of nitrification is a strategy already used in many agricultural systems. In particular, biological nitrification inhibitors (BNIs) are a promising strategy through which nitrogen losses can be reduced without causing a major impact on the environment. Over the last years, we have tested the efficacy of different BNI compounds on soil nitrogen cycling and nitrifier mirobial communities in different soils (follow this link to read more!).
More recently, we conducted a greenhouse experiment where we assessed the efficacy of different synthetic (SNI) and BNIs in reducing nitrogen losses and enhancing plant biomass of summer barley plants. Is the efficacy of BNIs reducing nitrificaiton higher than that of SNIs? Is the addition of BNIs an alternative to increase plant nitrogen use efficiency and thus to reduce nitrogen fertilizer losses? These are the questions that we intend to answer within the frame of the playNICE project. Exciting results ahead!
