1. College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, National Academy of Agriculture Green Development, State Key Laboratory of Nutrient Use and Management, National Observation and Research Station of Agriculture Green Development (Quzhou, Hebei), China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China 2. Water Systems and Global Change Group, Wageningen University & Research, 6700 AA Wageningen, the Netherlands 3. Environmental Systems Analysis Group, Wageningen University & Research, 6708 PB Wageningen, the Netherlands 4. Key Laboratory of Agricultural Water Resources, Hebei Key Laboratory of Soil Ecology, Center for Agricultural Resources Research, Institute of Genetic and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shijiazhuang 050021, China 5. College of Resources and Environment Science, Hebei Agricultural University, Baoding 071001, China
● The framework of multi-objective nitrogen (N) management was developed.
● Multi-objective targets were established to support agriculture sustainable production.
● A food chain approach was developed to accurately quantify N flow in food system.
● “3R” principle was used in developing N management strategy.
● The collaboration with different stakeholders is crucial for promoting technologies.
Nitrogen (N) is an essential nutrient for food production. The rapid increase in population requires high inputs of N to meet the growing food demand. If not managed well, the substantial loss of N from the food system has multiple impacts on grain yield, air and water pollution, and the economic benefits of agricultural. Multi-objective (food security, environmental sustainability and economic sustainability) synergistic consideration of N management in the food system is still lacking. This study employed strategies for optimizing N management in the food system, using Quzhou County as a typical example on the North China Plain. Firstly, a food chain approach was adopted to understand drivers and reasons behind N losses from the food system. Secondly, a top-down approach was used to define multi-objective N management, taking into consideration food security, environmental sustainability and economic sustainability. Multi-objective N management aims to reduce N losses to the environment and increase N use efficiencies, while simultaneously increasing yields and economic benefits. Thirdly, 3R (reduce-retain-recycle) N management strategies were identified for specific crops and animals through a bottom-up approach and then analyzed the potential of these strategies to achieve the multi-objectives. Finally, there is a discussion of how to engage different stakeholders to promote the technologies implementation. This study provides new insights into the synergistic achievement of multi-objective N management in the food system and the development of environmentally-friendly agriculture.
. [J]. Frontiers of Agricultural Science and Engineering, 2024, 11(1): 113-121.
Fanlei MENG, Menru WANG, Yong HOU, Lin MA, Wenqi MA, Xuejun LIU, Fusuo ZHANG, Wen XU. Optimizing nitrogen management in the food system for sustainable development: a case study of Quzhou County. Front. Agr. Sci. Eng. , 2024, 11(1): 113-121.
Nitrate nitrogen leaching from food production (water)
kt
1.9
1.67
1.7
N use efficiency in food production
%
19
25
19
Economic sustainability
Agriculture value
CNY
3.5 × 109
3.8 × 109
3.5 × 109
Tab.1
1
L, Ma Z, Bai W, Ma M, Guo R, Jiang J, Liu O, Oenema G L, Velthof A P, Whitmore J, Crawford A, Dobermann M, Schwoob F Zhang . Exploring future food provision scenarios for China. Environmental Science & Technology, 2019, 53(3): 1385–1393 https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.8b04375
2
B, Gu X, Zhang S K, Lam Y, Yu Grinsven H J M, van S, Zhang X, Wang B L, Bodirsky S, Wang J, Duan C, Ren L, Bouwman Vries W, de J, Xu M A, Sutton D Chen . Cost-effective mitigation of nitrogen pollution from global croplands. Nature, 2023, 613(7942): 77–84 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-05481-8
3
J, Shen Q, Zhu X, Jiao H, Ying H, Wang X, Wen W, Xu T, Li W, Cong X, Liu Y, Hou Z, Cui O, Oenema W J, Davies F Zhang . Agriculture Green Development: a model for China and the world. Frontiers of Agricultural Science and Engineering, 2020, 7(1): 5–13 https://doi.org/10.15302/J-FASE-2019300
4
M, Wang L, Ma M, Strokal W, Ma X, Liu C Kroeze . Hotspots for nitrogen and phosphorus losses from food production in China: a county-scale analysis. Environmental Science & Technology, 2018, 52(10): 5782–5791 https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.7b06138
5
F, Meng M, Wang M, Strokal C, Kroeze L, Ma Y, Li Q, Zhang Z, Wei Y, Hou X, Liu W, Xu F Zhang . Nitrogen losses from food production in the North China Plain: a case study for Quzhou. Science of the Total Environment, 2022, 816: 151557 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.151557
6
S, Feng W, Xu M, Cheng Y, Ma L, Wu J, Kang K, Wang A, Tang J L Jr, Collett Y, Fang K, Goulding X, Liu F Zhang . Overlooked nonagricultural and wintertime agricultural NH3 emissions in Quzhou County, North China Plain: evidence from 15N-stable isotopes. Environmental Science & Technology Letters, 2022, 9(2): 127–133 https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.estlett.1c00935
7
F, Meng Y, Zhang J, Kang M R, Heal S, Reis M, Wang L, Liu K, Wang S, Yu P, Li J, Wei Y, Hou Y, Zhang X, Liu Z, Cui W, Xu F Zhang . Trends in secondary inorganic aerosol pollution in China and its responses to emission controls of precursors in wintertime. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 2022, 22(9): 6291–6308 https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-6291-2022
8
W, Xu Y, Zhao Z, Wen Y, Chang Y, Pan Y, Sun X, Ma Z, Sha Z, Li J, Kang L, Liu A, Tang K, Wang Y, Zhang Y, Guo L, Zhang L, Sheng X, Zhang B, Gu Y, Song Damme M, Van L, Clarisse P F, Coheur J L Jr, Collett K, Goulding F, Zhang K, He X Liu . Increasing importance of ammonia emission abatement in PM2.5 pollution control. Science Bulletin, 2022, 67(17): 1745–1749 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scib.2022.07.021
9
of Ecology and Environment of the People's Republic of China (MEE) Ministry . Bulletin on the State of China’s Ecological Environment in 2019. Beijing: MEE, 2019 (in Chinese)
10
of Ecology and Environment of the People's Republic of China (MEE) Ministry . Bulletin on the State of China’s Ecological Environment in 2020. Beijing: MEE, 2020 (in Chinese)
11
of Ecology and Environment of the People's Republic of China (MEE) Ministry . Bulletin on the State of China’s Ecological Environment in 2021. Beijing: MEE, 2021 (in Chinese)
12
K Y Wang . Network Monitoring and Assessment of Air and Water Environmental Quality in Quzhou County. Thesis for the Master’s Degree. Beijing: China Agricultural University, 2023 (in Chinese)
13
X, Niu C, Zhang X Ju . Mechanism of nitrogen leaching in fluvo-aquic soil and deep vadose zone in the North China Plain. Chinese Journal of Eco-Agriculture, 2021, 29(1): 53−65 (in Chinese)
14
Z, He Y, Zhang X, Liu W, Xu Y, Hou H, Wang F Zhang . Ammonia mitigation potential in an optimized crop-layer production system. Science of the Total Environment, 2022, 841: 156701 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.156701
15
J, Wang Z, Sha J, Zhang W, Qin W, Xu K, Goulding X Liu . Improving nitrogen fertilizer use efficiency and minimizing losses and global warming potential by optimizing applications and using nitrogen synergists in a maize-wheat rotation. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 2023, 353: 108538 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2023.108538
16
X, Liu Z, Cui T, Hao L, Yuan Y, Zhang B, Gu W, Xu H, Ying W, Zhang T, Li X, Yan K, Goulding D, Kanter R, Howarth C, Stevens J, Ladha Q, Li L, Liu Vries W, de F Zhang . A new approach to holistic nitrogen management in China. Frontiers of Agricultural Science and Engineering, 2022, 9(3): 490–510
17
Z, Cui H, Zhang X, Chen C, Zhang W, Ma C, Huang W, Zhang G, Mi Y, Miao X, Li Q, Gao J, Yang Z, Wang Y, Ye S, Guo J, Lu J, Huang S, Lv Y, Sun Y, Liu X, Peng J, Ren S, Li X, Deng X, Shi Q, Zhang Z, Yang L, Tang C, Wei L, Jia J, Zhang M, He Y, Tong Q, Tang X, Zhong Z, Liu N, Cao C, Kou H, Ying Y, Yin X, Jiao Q, Zhang M, Fan R, Jiang F, Zhang Z Dou . Pursuing sustainable productivity with millions of smallholder farmers. Nature, 2018, 555(7696): 363–366 https://doi.org/10.1038/nature25785
18
Y, Guo Y, Chen T D, Searchinger M, Zhou D, Pan J, Yang L, Wu Z, Cui W, Zhang F, Zhang L, Ma Y, Sun M A, Zondlo L, Zhang D L Mauzerall . Air quality, nitrogen use efficiency and food security in China are improved by cost-effective agricultural nitrogen management. Nature Food, 2020, 1(10): 648–658 https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-020-00162-z
19
J, Kang J, Wang M R, Heal K, Goulding Vries W, De Y, Zhao S, Feng X, Zhang B, Gu X, Niu H, Zhang X, Liu Z, Cui F, Zhang W Xu . Ammonia mitigation campaign with smallholder farmers improves air quality while ensuring high cereal production. Nature Food, 2023, 4(9): 751–761 https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-023-00833-7
20
G L, Velthof D, Oudendag H P, Witzke W A H, Asman Z, Klimont O Oenema . Integrated assessment of nitrogen losses from agriculture in EU-27 using MITERRA-EUROPE. Journal of Environmental Quality, 2009, 38(2): 402–417 https://doi.org/10.2134/jeq2008.0108
21
B, Gu X, Ju J, Chang Y, Ge P M Vitousek . Integrated reactive nitrogen budgets and future trends in China. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2015, 112(28): 8792–8797 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1510211112
22
L, Ma W Q, Ma G L, Velthof F H, Wang W, Qin F S, Zhang O Oenema . Modeling nutrient flows in the food chain of China. Journal of Environmental Quality, 2010, 39(4): 1279–1289 https://doi.org/10.2134/jeq2009.0403
23
L, Ma G L, Velthof F H, Wang W, Qin W F, Zhang Z, Liu Y, Zhang J, Wei J P, Lesschen W Q, Ma O, Oenema F S Zhang . Nitrogen and phosphorus use efficiencies and losses in the food chain in China at regional scales in 1980 and 2005. Science of the Total Environment, 2012, 434: 51–61 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2012.03.028
24
F, Meng R, Ronda M, Strokal C, Kroeze L, Ma M, Krolc Graaf I, de Y, Zhao Y, Wang X, Du X, Liu W, Xu F, Zhang M Wang . Setting goals for agricultural nitrogen emission reduction to ensure safe air and groundwater quality: a case study of Quzhou, the North China Plain. Journal of Environmental Management, 2024, 351: 119737 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.119737
25
X, Zhang B, Gu Grinsven H, Van S K, Lam X, Liang M, Bai D Chen . Societal benefits of halving agricultural ammonia emissions in China far exceed the abatement costs. Nature Communications, 2020, 11(1): 4357 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-18196-z
26
L F, Schulte-Uebbing A H W, Beusen A F, Bouwman Vries W de . From planetary to regional boundaries for agricultural nitrogen pollution. Nature, 2022, 610(7932): 507–512 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-05158-2
27
X, Zhang G, Yao S, Vishwakarma C, Dalin A M, Komarek D R, Kanter K F, Davis K, Pfeifer J, Zhao T, Zou P, D’odorico C, Folberth F G, Rodriguez J, Fanzo L, Rosa W, Dennison M, Musumba A, Heyman E A Davidson . Quantitative assessment of agricultural sustainability reveals divergent priorities among nations. One Earth, 2021, 4(9): 1262–1277 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2021.08.015
28
X, Chen Z, Cui P, Vitousek K, Cassman P, Matson J, Bai Q, Meng P, Hou S, Yue V, Romheld F Zhang . Integrated soil-crop system management for food security. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2011, 108(16): 6399–6404 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1101419108
29
T Y Li . Evaluation of integrated effectiveness of enhanced efficiency fertilizers and influencing Factors. Dissertation for the Doctoral Degree. Beijing: China Agricultural University, 2018 (in Chinese)
30
H, Wang W, Long D, Chadwick G L, Velthof O, Oenema W, Ma J, Wang W, Qin Y, Hou F Zhang . Can dietary manipulations improve the productivity of pigs with lower environmental and economic cost? A global meta-analysis. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 2020, 289: 106748 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2019.106748
31
Y F Ma . Environmental and Economic Performance and Optimization Approach of Typical Crop-livestock Systems. Dissertation for the Doctoral Degree. Beijing: China Agricultural University, 2018 (in Chinese)
32
W, Zhang G, Cao X, Li H, Zhang C, Wang Q, Liu X, Chen Z, Cui J, Shen R, Jiang G, Mi Y, Miao F, Zhang Z Dou . Closing yield gaps in China by empowering smallholder farmers. Nature, 2016, 537(7622): 671–674 https://doi.org/10.1038/nature19368
33
Z, Wei M, Zhuang P, Hellegers Z, Cui E Hoffland . Towards circular nitrogen use in the agri-food system at village and county level in China. Agricultural Systems, 2023, 209: 103683 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2023.103683
34
Bureau of Statistics of the People’s Republic of China (NBSC) National . Quzhou Statistical Yearbook. Beijing: China Statistics Press, 2020 (in Chinese)
35
Comprehensive Group for Research on Agricultural Development Strategy in China by 2050 The . Strategies for China’s Agricultural Development Toward 2050. Strategic Study of CAE, 2022, 24(1): 1–10
36
Central People’s Government of the People’s Republic of China The . China’s Food and Nutrition Development Program (2014–2020). Beijing: The Central People’s Government of the People’s Republic of China, 2014. Available at The Central People’s Government of the People’s Republic of China website on December 6, 2023
37
of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of the People’s Republic of China (MARA) Ministry . Notice on the Resource Utilization of Livestock and Poultry Manure in 2020. Beijing: MARA, 2020. Available at MARA website on December 6, 2023
38
S Q Wang . The Way to Regulate Environmental and Economic Benefits of Supply Chain of Quzhou Laying Hens. Thesis for the Marster’s Degree. Beijing: China Agricultural University, 2023 (in Chinese)
