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Title: NITROGEN FERTILIZER: AN ESSENTIAL COMPONENT OF INCREASED FOOD, FEED, AND FIBER PRODUCTION.

Author
item MOSIER, A - U OF FL, GAINESVILLE
item SYERS, J - PHITSANULOK, THAILAND
item FRENEY, J - CANBERRA, AUSTRAILIA

Submitted to: Book Chapter
Publication Type: Book / Chapter
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/1/2004
Publication Date: 9/18/2004
Citation: Mosier, A.R., Syers, J.K., Freney, J.R. 2004. Nitrogen fertilizer: an essential component of increased food, feed, and fiber production. Book Chapter. A.R. Mosier, J.K Syers and J.R. Freney (eds). In: Agriculture and the Nitrogen Cycle: Assessing the Impacts of Fertilizer Use on Food Production and the Environment. SCOPE Vol. 65, Island Press, Washington, DC. pp. 3-15.

Interpretive Summary: Major uncertainties exist about the fate of fertilizer nitorgen added to agricultural soils and the potential for reducing emissions to the environment. Enhancing the technical and economic efficiency of fertilizer N is essential for both agricultural production and protection of the environment. To address the need for updated information SCOPE (Scientific Committee on Problems of the Environment), whose mandate has been to assemble, review, and assess the information available on human-induced environmental changes , joined forces with the IGBP (International Geosphere{-}Biosphere Programme) to develop the International Nitrogen Initiative (INI), which was formed following the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg on August 29, 2002.

Technical Abstract: The chapter briefly considers the global consumption of N fertilizer, pointing to the inequities in use distribution in different regions of the world; the generally low use efficiency of fertilizer N and the prospects for increasing it; the environmental and human health issues surrounding reactive N, particularly nitrate in drinking water and food; and the issue of who pays for the costs of too little N fertilizer for food production and protecting the environment of excessive use.