Nitrate leaching in intensive agriculture in Northern France: Effect of farming practices, soils and crop rotations

Protecting water resources from nitrate-nitrogen (NO3-N) contamination is an important public health concern and a major national environmental issue in China. Loss of NO3-N in soils due to leaching is not only one of the most important problems in agriculture farming, but is also the main factor causing nitrogen pollution in aquatic environments. Three typical intensive agriculture farmlands in Jiangyin City in China are selected as a case study for NO3-N leaching and modeling in the soil profile. In this study, the transport and fate of NO3-N within the soil profile and nitrate leaching to drains were analyzed by comparing field data with the simulation results of the LEACHM model. Comparisons between measured and simulated data indicated that the NO3-N concentrations in the soil and nitrate leaching to drains are controlled by the fertilizer practice, the initial conditions and the rainfall depth and distribution. Moreover, the study reveals that the LEACHM model gives a fair description of the NO3-N dynamics in the soil and subsurface drainage at the field scale. It can also be concluded that the model after calibration is a useful tool to optimize as a function of the combination “climate-crop-soil-bottom boundary condition” the nitrogen application strategy resulting for the environment in an acceptable level of nitrate leaching. The findings in this paper help to demonstrate the distribution and migration of nitrogen in intensive agriculture farmlands, as well as to explore the mechanism of groundwater contamination resulting from agricultural activities.

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Review of key causes and sources for N<sub>2</sub>O emissions and NO<sub>3</sub>-leaching from organic arable crop rotations

10.5194/bg-2018-455 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Sissel Hansen ◽

Randi Berland Frøseth ◽

Maria Stenberg ◽

Jarosław Stalenga ◽

Jørgen E. Olesen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Organic Matter ◽

Nitrate Leaching ◽

Organic Production ◽

Crop Rotations ◽

Organic Fertilizers ◽

N2o Emissions ◽

Catch Crops ◽

Arable Crop ◽

N2o Fluxes ◽

The Impact

Abstract. The emissions of nitrous oxide (N2O) and leaching of nitrate (NO3) have considerable negative impacts on climate and the environment. Although these environmental burdens are on average less per unit area in organic than in non-organic production, they are not smaller per unit of product. If organic farming is to maintain its goal of being an environmentally friendly production system, these emissions should be mitigated. We discuss the impact of possible triggers within organic arable farming practice for the risk of N2O emissions and NO3 leaching under European climatic conditions, and possible strategies to reduce these. Organic arable crop rotations can be characterised as diverse with frequent use of legumes, intercropping and organic fertilizers. The soil organic matter content and share of active organic matter, microbial and faunal activity are higher, soil structure better and yields lower, than in non-organic, arable crop rotations. Soil mineral nitrogen (SMN), N2O emissions and NO3 leaching are low under growing crops, but there is high potential for SMN accumulation and losses after crop termination or crop harvest. The risk for high N2O fluxes is increased when large amounts of herbage or organic fertilizers with readily available nitrogen (N) and carbon are incorporated into the soil or left on the surface. Freezing/thawing, drying/rewetting, compacted and/or wet soil and mixing with rotary harrow further enhance the risk for high N2O fluxes. These complex soil N dynamics mask the correlation between total N-input and N2O emissions from organic arable crop rotations. Incorporation of N rich plant residues or mechanical weeding followed by bare fallow increases the risk of nitrate leaching. In contrast, strategic use of deep-rooted crops with long growing seasons in the rotation reduces nitrate leaching risk. Reduced tillage can reduce N leaching if yields are maintained. Targeted treatment and use of herbage from green manures, crop residues and catch crops will increase N efficiency and reduce N2O emissions and NO3 leaching. Continued regular use of catch crops has the potential to reduce NO3 leaching but may enhance N2O emissions. A mixture of legumes and non-legumes (for instance grasses or cereals) are as efficient a catch crop as monocultures of non-legume species.

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Evaluating the Effectiveness of Rhizobium Inoculants and Micronutrients as Technologies for Nepalese Common Bean Smallholder Farmers in the Real-World Context of Highly Variable Hillside Environments and Indigenous Farming Practices

Agriculture ◽

10.3390/agriculture9010020 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

pp. 20 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Malinda Thilakarathna ◽

Tejendra Chapagain ◽

Bhawana Ghimire ◽

Roshan Pudasaini ◽

Bir Tamang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Symbiotic Nitrogen Fixation ◽

Cultural Practices ◽

Agronomic Traits ◽

Smallholder Farmers ◽

Crop Rotations ◽

Traditional Practices ◽

Farming Practices ◽

Yield Losses ◽

Vegetative Biomass ◽

On Farm

Studies have shown the potential of rhizobia and associated micronutrients to enhance symbiotic nitrogen fixation in legumes. Tens of millions of smallholder farmers, however, farm on mountain hillsides in highly variable soil and microenvironments, with different crop rotations, inputs and cultural practices. Here, on the terraces of the Nepalese Himalayas, we evaluated rhizobium inoculants (local, exotic), micronutrients (molybdenum, boron) and their combinations as technologies for smallholder farmers under highly variable microenvironments and traditional practices. The study was conducted as a series of participatory on-farm trials with 39 terrace farmers in two mid-hill districts of Nepal (Dhading, Kaski) from 2015 to 2017. Plots were measured for relevant agronomic traits. As expected, when comparing treatment plots with adjacent control plots within each farm, the results demonstrated tremendous farm-to-farm variability for nodulation, vegetative biomass, shoot nitrogen content, grain yield, and grain N content. Despite the variation observed, the data showed that the number of farms that showed yield increases from the rhizobium interventions, compared to those that suffered yield losses, was generally 2:1. We discuss potential experimental and socio-agronomic reasons for the variable results, including rainfall, which appeared critical. The results demonstrate the promise of rhizobium interventions for hillside smallholder farmers, even in a highly variable context.

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Is organic agriculture in line with the EU-Nitrate directive? On-farm nitrate leaching from organic and conventional arable crop rotations

Agriculture Ecosystems & Environment ◽

10.1016/j.agee.2020.106964 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 298 ◽

pp. 106964 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Lars Biernat ◽

Friedhelm Taube ◽

Iris Vogeler ◽

Thorsten Reinsch ◽

Christof Kluß ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Nitrate Leaching ◽

Organic Agriculture ◽

Crop Rotations ◽

Arable Crop ◽

On Farm ◽

The Eu

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The Diffusion of the New Husbandry in Northern France, 1815–1840

The Journal of Economic History ◽

10.1017/s002205070010511x ◽

1978 ◽

Vol 38 (2) ◽

pp. 311-337 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

George W. Grantham

Keyword(s):

Nineteenth Century ◽

Dairy Products ◽

Large Scale ◽

Slow Growth ◽

Crop Rotations ◽

Early Nineteenth Century ◽

Southern France ◽

The Core ◽

Northern France ◽

Nineteenth Century France

This article deals with agricultural innovation in early nineteenth-century France. The core of the argument advanced is that the diffusion of the new intensive mixed husbandry in northern France was delayed by the slow growth in demand for meat and dairy products before 1840, which reduced the advantages to be gained from adopting forage-intensive crop rotations. Because the climate of southern France precluded large-scale adoption of the northern varieties of mixed husbandry, this study confines itself to the part of France lying north of the Loire, and east of the Breton peninsula. This region contained 39 percent of France's people in 1840, raised 48 percent of its wheat and 64 percent of its fodder, and produced more than 75 percent of the value of its animal production. It was already the most industrialized and wealthy section of the country.

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