Nitrogen inputs by irrigation is a missing link in the agricultural nitrogen cycle and related policies in Europe

João Serra; Cláudia Marques-dos-Santos; Joana Marinheiro; Eduardo Aguilera; Luis Lassaletta; Alberto Sanz-Cobeña; Josette Garnier; Gilles Billen; Wim de Vries; Tommy Dalgaard; Nicholas Hutchings; Maria do Rosário Cameira

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.164249

Nitrogen inputs by irrigation is a missing link in the agricultural nitrogen cycle and related policies in Europe

João Serra^*, Cláudia Marques-dos-Santos, Joana Marinheiro, Eduardo Aguilera, Luis Lassaletta, Alberto Sanz-Cobeña, Josette Garnier, Gilles Billen, Wim de Vries, Tommy Dalgaard, Nicholas Hutchings, Maria do Rosário Cameira

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

11 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Irrigation, one of the 28 agri-environmental indicators defined in the European Common Agricultural Policy, is often neglected in agricultural nitrogen (N) budgets, while it can be a considerable source of N in irrigated agriculture. The annual N input from irrigation water sources (NIrrig) to cropping systems was quantified for Europe for 2000–2010 at a resolution of 10 × 10 km, accounting for crop-specific gross irrigation requirements (GIR) and surface- and groundwater nitrate concentration. GIR were computed for 20 crops, while spatially explicit nitrate concentration in groundwater was derived using a random forest model. We show that although GIR were relatively stable (46–60 km3 yr-1), the Nirrig in Europe increased over the 10-year period (184 to 259 Gg N yr-1), approximately 68 % of which occurred in the Mediterranean region. The main hotspots appeared in areas with both high irrigation requirements and high groundwater nitrate concentration, reaching up to averaged values of 150 kg N ha-1 yr1. These were mainly located in Mediterranean Europe (Greece, Portugal and Spain) and to a lesser extent in Northern Europe (The Netherlands, Sweden and Germany). By not including NIrrig, environmental and agricultural policies are underestimating the real extent of N pollution hotspots in European irrigated systems.

Original language	English
Article number	164249
Journal	Science of the Total Environment
Volume	889
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.164249
Publication status	Published - 1 Sept 2023

Keywords

Agrienvironmental indicator
Irrigation water
Nitrate pollution
Nutrient management
Water balance
Water management

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https://edepot.wur.nl/632103Licence: CC BY-NC

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Serra, J., Marques-dos-Santos, C., Marinheiro, J., Aguilera, E., Lassaletta, L., Sanz-Cobeña, A., Garnier, J., Billen, G., de Vries, W., Dalgaard, T., Hutchings, N., & do Rosário Cameira, M. (2023). Nitrogen inputs by irrigation is a missing link in the agricultural nitrogen cycle and related policies in Europe. Science of the Total Environment, 889, Article 164249. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.164249

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title = "Nitrogen inputs by irrigation is a missing link in the agricultural nitrogen cycle and related policies in Europe",

abstract = "Irrigation, one of the 28 agri-environmental indicators defined in the European Common Agricultural Policy, is often neglected in agricultural nitrogen (N) budgets, while it can be a considerable source of N in irrigated agriculture. The annual N input from irrigation water sources (NIrrig) to cropping systems was quantified for Europe for 2000–2010 at a resolution of 10 × 10 km, accounting for crop-specific gross irrigation requirements (GIR) and surface- and groundwater nitrate concentration. GIR were computed for 20 crops, while spatially explicit nitrate concentration in groundwater was derived using a random forest model. We show that although GIR were relatively stable (46–60 km3 yr-1), the Nirrig in Europe increased over the 10-year period (184 to 259 Gg N yr-1), approximately 68 % of which occurred in the Mediterranean region. The main hotspots appeared in areas with both high irrigation requirements and high groundwater nitrate concentration, reaching up to averaged values of 150 kg N ha-1 yr1. These were mainly located in Mediterranean Europe (Greece, Portugal and Spain) and to a lesser extent in Northern Europe (The Netherlands, Sweden and Germany). By not including NIrrig, environmental and agricultural policies are underestimating the real extent of N pollution hotspots in European irrigated systems.",

keywords = "Agrienvironmental indicator, Irrigation water, Nitrate pollution, Nutrient management, Water balance, Water management",

author = "Jo{\~a}o Serra and Cl{\'a}udia Marques-dos-Santos and Joana Marinheiro and Eduardo Aguilera and Luis Lassaletta and Alberto Sanz-Cobe{\~n}a and Josette Garnier and Gilles Billen and {de Vries}, Wim and Tommy Dalgaard and Nicholas Hutchings and {do Ros{\'a}rio Cameira}, Maria",

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doi = "10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.164249",

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Serra, J, Marques-dos-Santos, C, Marinheiro, J, Aguilera, E, Lassaletta, L, Sanz-Cobeña, A, Garnier, J, Billen, G, de Vries, W, Dalgaard, T, Hutchings, N & do Rosário Cameira, M 2023, 'Nitrogen inputs by irrigation is a missing link in the agricultural nitrogen cycle and related policies in Europe', Science of the Total Environment, vol. 889, 164249. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.164249

TY - JOUR

T1 - Nitrogen inputs by irrigation is a missing link in the agricultural nitrogen cycle and related policies in Europe

AU - Serra, João

AU - Marques-dos-Santos, Cláudia

AU - Marinheiro, Joana

AU - Aguilera, Eduardo

AU - Lassaletta, Luis

AU - Sanz-Cobeña, Alberto

AU - Garnier, Josette

AU - Billen, Gilles

AU - de Vries, Wim

AU - Dalgaard, Tommy

AU - Hutchings, Nicholas

AU - do Rosário Cameira, Maria

PY - 2023/9/1

Y1 - 2023/9/1

N2 - Irrigation, one of the 28 agri-environmental indicators defined in the European Common Agricultural Policy, is often neglected in agricultural nitrogen (N) budgets, while it can be a considerable source of N in irrigated agriculture. The annual N input from irrigation water sources (NIrrig) to cropping systems was quantified for Europe for 2000–2010 at a resolution of 10 × 10 km, accounting for crop-specific gross irrigation requirements (GIR) and surface- and groundwater nitrate concentration. GIR were computed for 20 crops, while spatially explicit nitrate concentration in groundwater was derived using a random forest model. We show that although GIR were relatively stable (46–60 km3 yr-1), the Nirrig in Europe increased over the 10-year period (184 to 259 Gg N yr-1), approximately 68 % of which occurred in the Mediterranean region. The main hotspots appeared in areas with both high irrigation requirements and high groundwater nitrate concentration, reaching up to averaged values of 150 kg N ha-1 yr1. These were mainly located in Mediterranean Europe (Greece, Portugal and Spain) and to a lesser extent in Northern Europe (The Netherlands, Sweden and Germany). By not including NIrrig, environmental and agricultural policies are underestimating the real extent of N pollution hotspots in European irrigated systems.

AB - Irrigation, one of the 28 agri-environmental indicators defined in the European Common Agricultural Policy, is often neglected in agricultural nitrogen (N) budgets, while it can be a considerable source of N in irrigated agriculture. The annual N input from irrigation water sources (NIrrig) to cropping systems was quantified for Europe for 2000–2010 at a resolution of 10 × 10 km, accounting for crop-specific gross irrigation requirements (GIR) and surface- and groundwater nitrate concentration. GIR were computed for 20 crops, while spatially explicit nitrate concentration in groundwater was derived using a random forest model. We show that although GIR were relatively stable (46–60 km3 yr-1), the Nirrig in Europe increased over the 10-year period (184 to 259 Gg N yr-1), approximately 68 % of which occurred in the Mediterranean region. The main hotspots appeared in areas with both high irrigation requirements and high groundwater nitrate concentration, reaching up to averaged values of 150 kg N ha-1 yr1. These were mainly located in Mediterranean Europe (Greece, Portugal and Spain) and to a lesser extent in Northern Europe (The Netherlands, Sweden and Germany). By not including NIrrig, environmental and agricultural policies are underestimating the real extent of N pollution hotspots in European irrigated systems.

KW - Agrienvironmental indicator

KW - Irrigation water

KW - Nitrate pollution

KW - Nutrient management

KW - Water balance

KW - Water management

U2 - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.164249

DO - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.164249

M3 - Article

C2 - 37209724

AN - SCOPUS:85160022058

SN - 0048-9697

VL - 889

JO - Science of the Total Environment

JF - Science of the Total Environment

M1 - 164249

ER -

Nitrogen inputs by irrigation is a missing link in the agricultural nitrogen cycle and related policies in Europe

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Keywords

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