Publication Abstracts
Hickman et al. 2020
, S. Zingore, C. Galy-Lacaux, J. Kihara, M. Bekunda, and C.A. Palm, 2020: Assessing synergies and trade-offs from nitrogen use in Africa. In Just Enough Nitrogen: Perspectives on how to get there for regions with too much and too little nitrogen. M.A. Sutton, K.E. Mason, A. Bleeker, W.K. Hicks, C. Masso, N. Raghuram, S. Reis, and M. Bekunda, Eds., Springer International, pp. 65-82, doi:10.1007/978-3-030-58065-0_5.
Fertilizer use in African agriculture is extremely low — just 4% of global fertilizer use, with an annual average of only 8 kg nutrients ha-1 in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). A major focus of a new African Green Revolution is increasing inputs of nitrogen (N) to help restore soil fertility to soils that have experienced decades of nutrient depletion. These increased inputs can be expected to increase crop productivity in most soils, and may also increase soil organic matter, particularly when added with organic inputs or crop residues, which, in turn, can lead to increased water use efficiency. The increased N inputs may also be accompanied by a decline in N use efficiency, causing increased N losses to the environment with potential impacts on water and air quality, soil pH and biodiversity. Here we briefly summarize the current state of knowledge of N dynamics in agricultural systems in SSA and the potential synergies and trade-offs that may result from increasing N inputs. As there have been fewer studies examining N cycling and losses in Africa compared to other parts of the world, it is difficult to predict confidently the magnitude of any environmental impacts associated with increased N inputs, and computer models are limited by data for model parameterization and operation. Given the potential of N losses from sewage effluent and agricultural activities to affect water quality in African coastal and aquatic environments and the potential for increased reactive N emissions and deposition to terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, coordinated efforts should be made to fill these gaps.
Export citation: [ BibTeX ] [ RIS ]
BibTeX Citation
@inbook{hi05300j,
author={Hickman, J. E. and Zingore, S. and Galy-Lacaux, C. and Kihara, J. and Bekunda, M. and Palm, C. A.},
editor={Sutton, M. A. and Mason, K. E. and Bleeker, A. and Hicks, W. K. and Masso, C. and Raghuram, N. and Reis, S. and Bekunda, M.},
title={Assessing synergies and trade-offs from nitrogen use in Africa},
booktitle={Just Enough Nitrogen: Perspectives on how to get there for regions with too much and too little nitrogen},
year={2020},
pages={65--82},
publisher={Springer International},
address={Cham},
doi={10.1007/978-3-030-58065-0_5},
}
[ Close ]
RIS Citation
TY - CHAP ID - hi05300j AU - Hickman, J. E. AU - Zingore, S. AU - Galy-Lacaux, C. AU - Kihara, J. AU - Bekunda, M. AU - Palm, C. A. ED - Sutton, M. A. ED - Mason, K. E. ED - Bleeker, A. ED - Hicks, W. K. ED - Masso, C. ED - Raghuram, N. ED - Reis, S. ED - Bekunda, M. PY - 2020 TI - Assessing synergies and trade-offs from nitrogen use in Africa BT - Just Enough Nitrogen: Perspectives on how to get there for regions with too much and too little nitrogen SP - 65 EP - 82 DO - 10.1007/978-3-030-58065-0_5 PB - Springer International CY - Cham ER -
[ Close ]
