Agronomy for Sustainable Development最新文献

{"title":"Straw mulch and nitrogen fertilizer: A viable green solution for enhanced maize benefits and reduced emissions in China","authors":"Huihui Wei,&nbsp;Li Zhang,&nbsp;Rongzhu Qin,&nbsp;Zeyu Zhao,&nbsp;Yalan Huang,&nbsp;Guojun Sun,&nbsp;Matthew Tom Harrison,&nbsp;Feng Zhang","doi":"10.1007/s13593-024-00988-y","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s13593-024-00988-y","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Against the backdrop of global warming, the agricultural sector grapples with the dual challenge of safeguarding food security while fulfilling carbon neutrality. Currently, although nitrogen fertilizer and mulch use to enhance maize yields is well-documented, systematic evaluations are lacking in the carbon neutrality potential and holistic benefits, including greenhouse gas (GHG) implications, associated with these strategies. Here, using the calibrated DeNitrification-DeComposition (DNDC) model, we conducted a long-term simulation (1980−2019) incorporating various scenarios of nitrogen fertilizer (N₁: conventional nitrogen fertilizer; N_0.7: 70% conventional nitrogen fertilizer) and mulch (CK: no-mulch; PM: plastic film mulch; SM: straw mulch), resulting in a baseline scenario (CKN₁) and five mitigation scenarios (CKN_0.7, PMN₁, PMN_0.7, SMN₁, SMN_0.7). We revealed an average net global warming potential during the maize growing season of 5293 kg CO₂ eq ha⁻¹, with the most GHG derived from N₂O (53%). Considering GHG costs, the net environmental and economic benefits in maize amounted to 5089 CNY ha⁻¹. Presently, Hainan, Henan, Liaoning, and Jilin provinces exhibit a state of low net global warming potential and high net environmental and economic benefits in maize cultivation. Of the mitigation scenarios, only SMN₁ concurrently reduced GHG emissions (− 59%) and amplified net environmental and economic benefits (+ 21%) in China. Our results, which provide the first calculation of the combined benefits of mulch and nitrogen fertilizer including GHG costs, not only underscore the immense potential of mulch for enabling carbon neutrality, but also offer valuable insights for policymakers and industry in selecting suitable mulch techniques for agricultural production.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7721,"journal":{"name":"Agronomy for Sustainable Development","volume":"44 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.4,"publicationDate":"2024-10-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142487276","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Numerical exploration of the impact of hydrological connectivity on rainfed annual crops in Mediterranean hilly landscapes","authors":"Mariem Dhouib,&nbsp;Jérôme Molénat,&nbsp;Laurent Prévot,&nbsp;Insaf Mekki,&nbsp;Rim Zitouna-Chebbi,&nbsp;Frédéric Jacob","doi":"10.1007/s13593-024-00981-5","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s13593-024-00981-5","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Within hilly agricultural landscapes, topography induces lateral transfers of runoff water, so-called interplot hydrological connectivity. Runoff water from upstream plots can infiltrate downstream plots, thus influencing the water content in the root zone that drives crop functioning. The impact of runoff on crop functioning can be crucial for optimizing agricultural landscape management strategies. However, to our knowledge, no study has specifically focused on the impact on crop yield. The current study aims to comprehensively investigate the impact of runoff on crop functioning in the context of Mediterranean rainfed annual crops. To quantify this impact, we conduct a numerical experiment using the AquaCrop model and consider two hydrologically connected plots. The experiment explores a range of upstream and downstream agro-pedo-climatic conditions: crop type, soil texture and depth, climate forcing, and the area of the upstream plot. The experiment relies on data collected over the last 25 years in OMERE, an environment research observatory in northeastern Tunisia, and data from literature. A key finding in the results is that water supply through hydrological connectivity can enhance annual crop production under semiarid and subhumid climate conditions. Specifically, the results show that the downstream infiltration of upstream runoff has a positive impact on crop functioning in a moderate number of situations, ranging from 16% (wheat) to 33% (faba bean) as the average across above ground biomass and yield. Positive impact is mostly found for higher soil available water capacity and under semiarid and dry subhumid climate conditions, with a significant impact of rainfall intra-annual distribution in relation to crop phenology. These research needs to be expanded by considering both a wider range of crops and future climate conditions.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7721,"journal":{"name":"Agronomy for Sustainable Development","volume":"44 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.4,"publicationDate":"2024-10-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142487273","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Ecological redesign of crop ecosystems for reliable crop protection. A review","authors":"Riccardo Bommarco","doi":"10.1007/s13593-024-00987-z","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s13593-024-00987-z","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>To attain food security, we must minimize crop losses caused by weed growth, animal herbivores, and pathogens (or “pests”). Today, crop production depends heavily on the use of chemical pesticides (or “pesticides”) to protect the crops. However, pesticides are phased out as they lose efficiency due to pest resistance, and few new pesticides are appearing on the market. In addition, policies and national action programs are implemented with the aim of reducing pesticide risks. We must redesign our cropping systems to successfully protect our crops against pests using fewer or no pesticides. In this review, I focus on the principles for redesigning the crop ecosystem. Ecological redesign aims to enhance ecological functions in order to regulate pest populations and diminish crop losses. Exploring ecology and ecosystems plays an important role in this transition. Guiding principles for redesigning the cropping system can be drawn from understanding its ecology. Ecosystem and community ecologists have identified four principal ecological characteristics that enhance the biotic regulation of ecological processes across ecosystems: (i) advanced ecosystem succession through introducing and conserving perennial crops and landscape habitats; (ii) reduced disturbance frequency and intensity; (iii) an increase in both managed and wild functional biological diversity, above and below ground; and (iv) matched spatial extent of land use (e.g., crop field size) with that of ecological processes (e.g., dispersal capacity of predators). I review the practices that link these ecosystem characteristics to crop protection in grain commodity cropping in both the crop field and the agricultural landscape. The review brings forth how basic understandings drawn from ecosystem and community ecology can guide agricultural research in the redesign of cropping systems, ensuring that technologies, breeding, innovation, and policy are adapted to and support the reshaped crop ecosystem.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7721,"journal":{"name":"Agronomy for Sustainable Development","volume":"44 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.4,"publicationDate":"2024-10-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s13593-024-00987-z.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142487275","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Intraspecific crop diversity for enhanced crop pollination success. A review","authors":"Stan Chabert,&nbsp;Maxime Eeraerts,&nbsp;Lisa W. DeVetter,&nbsp;Monica Borghi,&nbsp;Rachel E. Mallinger","doi":"10.1007/s13593-024-00984-2","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s13593-024-00984-2","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Interspecific crop diversity (e.g., intercropping) has been documented to promote sustainability in agroecological systems with benefits for pollination services and insect pollinators. These benefits may also be extended to intraspecific crop diversity (e.g., cultivation of multiple genotypes or cultivars in a production space), but no review to date has examined the benefits of intraspecific crop diversity for pollination and pollinator communities. While mixing cultivars is necessary and a widespread practice for pollination of self-incompatible or male-sterile crops, it is not as widespread for other crop species. However, many other crops have shown reduced yield quantity or quality with self-fertilization due to partial self-sterility, early acting inbreeding depression, and xenia. These crops could thus experience increased production in diverse cultivar mixtures. Cultivar mixtures could also benefit pollinator communities through providing complementary and temporally consistent floral resources, with cascading effects on pollination services. However, successfully implementing cultivar mixtures requires an understanding of how cultivar identity and arrangement affect successful cross-pollination. In this review, we describe the potential benefits of increased intraspecific crop diversity for optimal pollination and pollinator populations across insect-pollinated crops. Additionally, we explore how research advances in cultivar characteristics and insect pollinator behavior and movement, as well as crop pollen flow, can inform cultivar mixtures and spatial arrangements. We find evidence that mixing cultivars, even in self-compatible crops, improves pollination outcomes and yields. Additionally, given insect pollinator behavior and pollen flow, such mixing must occur at relatively small spatial scales. Furthermore, cultivar diversity could ensure successful pollination and resource production for pollinators under extreme weather events. We also discuss costs and benefits of diverse cultivar mixtures from a grower’s perspective and offer suggestions for future research including translating findings within the context of farming systems so that recommendations are practical and achievable.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7721,"journal":{"name":"Agronomy for Sustainable Development","volume":"44 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.4,"publicationDate":"2024-10-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s13593-024-00984-2.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142438839","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Economic optimization of sustainable soil management: a Dutch case study","authors":"M. C. Kik,&nbsp;G. D. H. Claassen,&nbsp;M. P. M. Meuwissen,&nbsp;G. H. Ros,&nbsp;A. B. Smit,&nbsp;H. W. Saatkamp","doi":"10.1007/s13593-024-00980-6","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s13593-024-00980-6","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Soil quality is pivotal for crop productivity and the environmental quality of agricultural ecosystems. Achieving sufficient yearly income and long-term farm continuity are key goals for farmers, making sustainable soil management an economic challenge. Existing bio-economic models often inadequately address soil quality. In this study, we apply the novel FARManalytics model, which integrates chemical, physical, and biological indicators of soil quality indicator, quantitative rules on how these indicators respond to farmers’ production management over time, and an economic calculation framework that accurately calculates the contribution of production management decisions towards farm income. This is the first study applying this model on existing arable farms. FARManalytics optimizes crop rotation design, cover crops, manure and fertilizer application and crop residue management. Nine Dutch arable farms were analyzed with a high variation in farm size, soil type, and cultivated crops. First, we assessed farm differences in soil quality and farm economics. Second, we optimized production management to maximize farm income while meeting soil quality targets using farm-specific scenarios. Third, we explored the impact of recent policy measures to preserve water quality and to increase the contribution of local protein production. The results show that the case farms already perform well regarding soil quality, with 75% of the soil quality indicators above critical levels. The main soil quality bottlenecks are subsoil compaction and soil organic matter input. We show that even in front-runner farms, bio-economic modeling with FARManalytics substantially improves economic performance while increasing soil quality. We found that farm income could be increased by up to €704 ha⁻¹ year⁻¹ while meeting soil quality targets. Additionally, we show that to anticipate on stricter water quality regulation and market shift for protein crops, FARManalytics is able to provide alternative production management strategies that ensure the highest farm income while preserving soil quality for a set of heterogenous farms.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7721,"journal":{"name":"Agronomy for Sustainable Development","volume":"44 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.4,"publicationDate":"2024-10-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s13593-024-00980-6.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142374159","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Strategies to improve field establishment of cover crops. A review","authors":"Ximei Feng,&nbsp;Lionel Alletto,&nbsp;Wen-Feng Cong,&nbsp;Jérôme Labreuche,&nbsp;Jay Ram Lamichhane","doi":"10.1007/s13593-024-00986-0","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s13593-024-00986-0","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Cover cropping consists in sowing non-cash crops to improve regulating and supporting services without seeking provisioning services. Cover cropping has the potential for spatio-temporal diversification of cropping systems to help address food security while also improving environmental sustainability. However, cover crops are still poorly adopted by farmers worldwide. One of the key reasons behind this poor adoption is the difficulties in ensuring cover crop establishment that is further exacerbated by the current knowledge gaps. On the other hand, no study has yet summarized key published and unpublished information on cover crop emergence and field establishment that may help fill these knowledge gaps. In light of this, for the first time, we comprehensively review the literature to summarize and quantify information related to cover crop emergence and propose strategies for improving their field establishment. The major findings are as follows. (1) Detailed statistics on the share of arable land sown to cover crops are lacking, but the available information suggests that this share is increasing over the years ranging from 4% in the USA to 9% in the EU. (2) Four key factors—regulations and public policy incentives, economic factors, knowledge factors, and environmental factors—influence the adoption or non-adoption of cover crops by farmers. (3) Poor emergence and field establishment, due to unfavorable environmental conditions, is one of the most important obstacles to cover crop adoption across temperate regions worldwide. (4) Five forms of cover crop sowing are practiced by farmers that can be grouped into two major sowing strategies—sowing before and after harvesting cash crops—each of them presenting several strengths and limits. (5) A wide range of sowing equipment is available for farmers but their choice depends on several factors including work output and costs. Finally, we emphasize the role of a decision support system and modeling, for an optimal cover crop sowing and field establishment, which are key for enhanced quantity of biomass production and ecosystem service provisioning.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7721,"journal":{"name":"Agronomy for Sustainable Development","volume":"44 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.4,"publicationDate":"2024-10-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142374158","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Biotic stress and yield stability in English organic silvoarable agroforestry","authors":"Colin R. Tosh,&nbsp;Tom Staton,&nbsp;Ambrogio Costanzo,&nbsp;Will Simonson","doi":"10.1007/s13593-024-00979-z","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s13593-024-00979-z","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>In-field trees are thought to buffer arable crops from climate extremes through the creation of microclimates that may reduce the impacts of heat, wind, and cold. Much less is known about how trees and their biotic interactions (e.g. with natural enemies of pests and wild understory plants) impact crop yield stability to biotic stresses such as crop pests and disease. Modelling these interactions using conventional approaches is complex and time consuming, and we take a simplified approach, representing the agroecosystem as a Boolean regulatory network and parameterising Boolean functions using expert opinion. This allies our approach with decision analysis, which is increasingly finding applications in agriculture. Despite the naivety of our model, we demonstrate that it outputs complex and realistic agroecosystem dynamics. It predicts that, in English silvoarable, the biotic interactions of in-field trees boost arable crop yield overall, but they do not increase yield stability to biotic stress. Sensitivity analysis shows that arable crop yield is very sensitive to disease and weeds. We suggest that the focus of studies and debate on ecosystem service provision by English agroforestry needs to shift from natural enemies and pests to these ecosystem components. We discuss how our model can be improved through validation and parameterisation using real field data. Finally, we discuss how our approach can be used to rapidly model systems (agricultural or otherwise) than can be represented as dynamic interaction networks.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7721,"journal":{"name":"Agronomy for Sustainable Development","volume":"44 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.4,"publicationDate":"2024-10-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s13593-024-00979-z.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142374160","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Beekeeping and agropastoralism interactions through floral resources in the French Mount Lozère","authors":"Gabriel Gonella,&nbsp;Estelle Leoni,&nbsp;Léo Mouillard-Lample,&nbsp;Claire Aubron,&nbsp;Axel Decourtye,&nbsp;Marc Deconchat,&nbsp;Cécile Barnaud","doi":"10.1007/s13593-024-00985-1","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s13593-024-00985-1","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Beekeeping has faced increasing difficulties during the past decades, among which is the decline in floral resources. Agriculture provides essential floral resources for beekeeping, but some farming practices have also been shown to be responsible for their decline. To provide floral resources for beekeeping, what type of agricultural transformation should be promoted, and how? To answer these questions, we still lack knowledge about the floral resources that are used by beekeeping and about the technical-economic obstacles that farmers face in implementing more favorable farming practices, particularly in agropastoral settings. To help fill these gaps, we develop a novel approach that frames both agropastoral farming and beekeeping as farming systems, by characterizing the beekeeping systems of a given place, the floral resources they use, and the impacts these farming systems have on floral resources. This approach is applied to the agropastoral landscapes of Mount Lozère, southern France, using a methodology based on semi-structured interviews with farmers and beekeepers addressing the agronomical functioning of their farms. We demonstrate that the floral resources used by beekeepers on Mount Lozère are threatened by the current dominant agricultural development paths, which seek to maximize the material productivity of labor. Such paths lead to the intensification of agricultural practices in harvested areas and the extensification of rangelands. These pathways are reinforced by the low remuneration of agropastoral labor and by the current rules of the European Union Common Agricultural Policy. “Frugal” farming, a farming system based on reduced inputs and investments, and labor-intensive practices, namely, a labor-intensive use of pasture, seems an effective way to produce floral resources. Both, agropastoral farmers and beekeepers, would benefit from an increase in the number of agricultural workers in agropastoral landscapes. This calls for public policies that promote a better remuneration of agropastoral labor, either directly or by driving market mechanisms.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7721,"journal":{"name":"Agronomy for Sustainable Development","volume":"44 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.4,"publicationDate":"2024-10-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s13593-024-00985-1.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142374193","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A multifunctional life cycle assessment of durum wheat cropping systems","authors":"Silvia Zingale,&nbsp;Carlo Ingrao,&nbsp;Alba Reguant-Closa,&nbsp;Paolo Guarnaccia,&nbsp;Thomas Nemecek","doi":"10.1007/s13593-024-00982-4","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s13593-024-00982-4","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Agricultural systems strongly impact ecosystems by driving terrestrial degradation, water depletion, and climate change. The Life Cycle Assessment allows for comprehensive analyses of the environmental impacts of food production. Nonetheless, its application still faces challenges due to cropping systems’ increased complexity and multifunctionality. Past research has emphasized the need for more holistic approaches to consider dynamic crop interactions and diverse functions of cropping systems, beyond just meeting the demand for foods and feeds. In this context, this study applied an alternative combined and multifunctional modelling approach to compare the environmental performances of two durum wheat cropping systems. The latter differed in crop rotation schedules, farming methods, tillage techniques, and genotypes grown (including both modern and old ones). Novel methodological choices were adopted in this study, aiming at best representing the complexity and peculiarities of these systems, by considering crop rotation effects and reflecting the main durum wheat stakeholders’ perspectives. The results showed that the organic low-input landrace-growing system (Case 1) had considerably lower environmental impacts than the conventional high-input one (Case 2), regardless of the functional unit. The environmental hotspots were the increased land occupation and the bare fallow for Case 1 and Case 2, respectively. At the endpoint level, the most affected impact categories for both the systems of analysis were land use, fine particulate matter formation, global warming (human health), and human non-carcinogenic toxicity. Also, the midpoint analysis pointed out important differences in terms of other assessed impact categories, with Case 1 better performing for the majority of them. The identified improvement solutions include the following: the enhancement of the yield performances and the optimization of nitrogen provision from the leguminous crop for Case1, the shift toward a more efficient rotational scheme, the reduction of the use of external inputs, and the avoidance of unnecessary soil tillage operations for Case 2.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7721,"journal":{"name":"Agronomy for Sustainable Development","volume":"44 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.4,"publicationDate":"2024-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s13593-024-00982-4.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142363114","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Fertilizer dependency: a new indicator for assessing the sustainability of agrosystems beyond nitrogen use efficiency","authors":"Miguel Quemada,&nbsp;Luis Lassaletta","doi":"10.1007/s13593-024-00978-0","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s13593-024-00978-0","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Cropping systems depend on external nitrogen (N) to produce food. However, we lack metrics to account for society’s fertilizer dependency, although excessive increases in N application damage human and environmental health. The objective of this study is to propose a novel indicator, N fertilizer dependency, calculated as the ratio between human-controllable external inputs and total N inputs. Nitrogen fertilizer dependency has a solid mathematical base being derived from closing the nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) equation. This study also tests the value of the N fertilizer dependency concept at the cropping system (plant-soil) scale and at different spatial scales, from field to country, as a complementary indicator to promote sustainable production. The field experiments conducted with grain cereals as a main crop showed that when replacing the barley precedent crop with a legume, N fertilizer dependency accounted for soil legacy and was reduced by 15% in fertilized treatments. In a farm population, N fertilizer dependency ranged from 47 to 95% and accounted for the relevance of biological fixation and irrigation water N inputs, adding pertinent information to performance indicators (i.e., NUE). At the country scale, N fertilizer dependency showed different temporal patterns, depending mainly on the relevance of biological atmospheric N fixation. Nitrogen fertilizer dependency of global cropping systems has risen to ≈83% in the last five decades, even though the N exchange among regions has increased. Nitrogen fertilizer dependency has great potential to monitor the achievements of efforts aiming to boost system autonomy, and within similar agricultural systems, it can be used to identify practices that lead to a reduction of fertilizer needs. In summary, N fertilizer dependency is a new indicator to evaluate the agroenvironmental sustainability of cropping systems across the scales and provides a complementary dimension to the traditional indicators such as NUE, N output, and N surplus.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7721,"journal":{"name":"Agronomy for Sustainable Development","volume":"44 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.4,"publicationDate":"2024-08-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s13593-024-00978-0.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142085021","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}