Agricultural productivity and the nitrogen cycle

During the past 30 years agricultural production in the U.K. has consistently increased as the result of a number of technological changes. For example, cereal yields have doubled and milk yields from dairy cows have increased by one and a half times. Livestock numbers have also increased, particula...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences Biological sciences, 1982-01, Vol.296 (1082), p.303-314
Main Author: Gasser, J.K.R
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agricultural soils
Agriculture and the Nitrogen Cycle
animal production
Crop production
Fertilizers
Food crops
Grassland soils
Nitrates
Nitrous oxide
plant cultural practices
plants
Slurries
Soil air
Soil pollution
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Summary:During the past 30 years agricultural production in the U.K. has consistently increased as the result of a number of technological changes. For example, cereal yields have doubled and milk yields from dairy cows have increased by one and a half times. Livestock numbers have also increased, particularly those of pigs and poultry. The use of fertilizer nitrogen has increased fivefold in the same period. This greater productivity means that not only have the inputs of nitrogen to agriculture increased but so also have the amounts circulating within agricultural systems. These changes are examined and the implications of their effects on the environment assessed.
ISSN:0080-4622
0962-8436
1471-2970
2054-0280
DOI:10.1098/rstb.1982.0006