County-level air pollutant mitigation from China’s staple crop production

Abstract

Agricultural activities in crop production emit substantial air pollutants, impacting air quality, ecosystems, and public health. However, compiling a spatially explicit crop air pollutant emission inventory including all agricultural activities in field is urgent but still lacking. Here, we conducted a county-level air pollutant emission inventory and mitigation potential assessment for China’s wheat, maize, and rice production in 2020. Results show that county-level air pollutant emission from agricultural activities shows large spatial heterogeneity, primarily driven by straw burning and fertilizer application. Regional management strategy combining better nitrogen management, eliminating straw burning, and minimum tillage, revealed the possibility of meeting the increasing demand in 2035 while reducing NH₃, PM₁₀, THC, NO_x, and PM_2.5 by 35 %, 64 %, 60 %, 66 %, and 84 %, and achieving near-zero emission for other pollutants. Our county-level air pollutant assessment fills gaps in entire production cycle evaluations, and provides valuable spatial insights for designing regionally targeted mitigation strategies.