NITROGENOUS FERTILIZER: TURNING UP THE PLANET'S HEAT?

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NITROGENOUS FERTILIZER: TURNING UP THE PLANET'S HEAT?

Now that the year's first application of mineral fertilizer has occurred, its a good time to take stock of the broader story and implications of nitrogen fertilizer.

Nitrogen is an especially unusual element, found mostly (80%) in the air, with just a tiny percentage (0.004%) in the soil. Because of nitrogen's very 'solid' chemical structure, only a tiny number of plants, mostly legumes like clover, can use it.

(image from Nature; based on one by Diana Liverman)

(and yes, the nitrogen figure is one of the furthest past the planet's natural boundaries)

Indeed, it was reported in this supplement recently that farmers could save E125 per hectare by integrating white clover into their sward. This would result in a reduction of 50% of the Nitrogen (mineral) fertilizer, and a saving of E5000 on a 100 acre farm. Quite why clover is used so rarely by conventional farmers is still something of a mystery.

There are significant areas where science finds human behaviour to be transgressing the planet's natural limits. Johan Rockström in the journal Nature (August 2011 edition) cites climate change, biodiversity loss, and nitrogen flow as the three areas, of ten main possible areas, where safe planetary boundaries are being crossed.

According to Galloway (et al) in a 2008 article in the journal Science:“Humans continue to transform the global nitrogen cycle at a record pace, reflecting an increased combustion of fossil fuels, growing demand for nitrogen in agriculture and industry, and pervasive inefficiencies in its use.”

This latter point is especially salient because, Galloway states “Much anthropogenic nitrogen is lost to air, water, and land to cause a cascade of environmental and human health problems” .

Farming relies on the Haber-Bosch process to harness atmospheric nitrogen and make it available as a synthetic fertilizer: N2 is turned into Nr, as ammonia or NH3.

This technique was developed by 1918 Nobel Prize winner Fritz Haber during World War One, to make explosives. This was credited with lengthening that war considerably, more so than his pioneering and indeed enthusiastic work on chemical warfare, in particular his development and supervision of chlorine as a poison gas for use in trench warfare, from the 2nd battle of Ypres (1915) onwards.

The Haber-Bosch process synthesises nitrogen through the “fertility furnace”: a 550 degrees Centigrade oven. This process has been credited with increasing yield and food production globally.

However to reach such heat, enormous amounts of fossil fuels are used up, before packaging, transportation, spreading and waste are even taken into account.

Increasingly, there are rules and regulations controlling N levels in farming. Opportunities to use both techniques and technology to limit N fertilizer application are constantly emerging.

Nonetheless, as Galloway points out above, much of it still gets dispersed in the environment. So it is lost into groundwater and the atmosphere, as nitrous oxide into air, and as nitrate into water.

There are documented consequences for water quality, soil quality, climate change, biodiversity and human health when this occurs. To take one of these examples: Nitrous oxide is considered 300 times more effective as greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.

Organic farming methods, which any farmer can adopt, try to mitigate these negatives. Clover is integrated into swards, rotations employed, farm yard manure and composting practiced, all as alternatives to synthetic fertilizer or slurry.

Studies comparing organic and conventional farming find more efficient, judicious nitrogen performance in organic farming systems.

Sasha B. Kramer's published research found that after fertilization “annual nitrate leaching was 4.4–5.6 times higher in conventional plots than in organic plots”. (the organic plots were fertilized either with compost chicken manure or with alfalfa meal.)

What's perhaps most interesting is that according to Kramer, this “could also be achievable in other cropping systems.”

It is also worth noting that the improved soil quality in organic farming systems, primarily through the greater levels microbial life displayed, reduces the negative effects of nitrogen, essentially turning it into a non-polluting gas.

For 10 ways to reduce N fertilizer costs on the farm, go to www.teagasc.ie/topics/grassland and click on the link.

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