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Rebalancing global nitrogen management in response to a fertilizer and food security crisis
Preprint   Open access

Rebalancing global nitrogen management in response to a fertilizer and food security crisis

Sieglinde Star Snapp, Tek Bahadur Sapkota, Jordan Chamberlin, Cindy Marie Cox, Samuel Gameda, Mangi Lal Jat, Paswel Marenya, Khondoker Abdul Mottaleb, Christine Negra, Kalimuthu Senthilkumar, …
Nature Sustainability
12/06/2022
DOI: https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-2318855/v1
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Rebalancing global nitrogen management in response to a fertilizer and food security crisis1.35 MBDownloadView
Open Access CC BY V4.0

Abstract

Agriculture
Vulnerabilities of the global fuel-fertilizer-food nexus have been revealed by a regional geopolitical con􀂧ict causing sudden and massive supply disruptions. Across over-and under-fertilized agricultural systems, nitrogen (N) fertilizer price spikes will have very different effects and require differentiated responses. For staple cereal production in India, Ethiopia, and Malawi, our estimates of N-fertilizer savings show the value of integrated organic and inorganic N management. N-de􀂦cient systems bene􀂦t from shifting to more cost-effective, high-N fertilizer (such as urea), combined with compost and legumes. N-surplus systems achieve N savings through better targeted and more e􀂨cient N-fertilizer use. Globally, there is a need to re-balance access to N-fertilizers, while steering the right fertilizer to the right place, and managing N in combination with carbon through near-term interventions, while striving for longer-term sustainable management. Nationally, governments can invest in extension and re-align subsidies to enable and incentivize improved N management at the farm level.

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