Guidelines on Nitrogen Management in Agricultural Systems

Vienna: International Atomic Energy Agency, 2008. — 237 pp. — (Training Course Series No. 29).The present publication has covered the topic of nitrogen management in agroecosystems. The main sources of nitrogen in crop production have been discussed, namely mineral N fertilizers, biologically fixed N and organic N sources. Within each of the three chapters on these subjects, the theoretical basis and applications of stable isotope 15N tracer techniques to measure N process rates and the N balance from different N sources in various cropping systems have been elaborated.
This publication was conceived as a technically oriented document for a target audience comprising soil and environmental scientists and technicians, agronomists, ecologists, extension workers, and upper level undergraduate and graduate students in these disciplines, staff of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other stakeholders involved in sustainable agricultural development at local, national, regional and international levels.
C o n t e n t s.
Introduction to Nitrogen management in agricultural system (F. Zapata).
Use of tracer technology in mineral fertilizer management (O. Van Cleemput, F. Zapata, B. Vanlauwe).
Mineral fertilizer nitrogen management.
Measurement of fertilizer N use efficiency.
Factors affecting efficiency and losses: Environmental issues related to fertilizer N.
Ways of improving fertilizer N use efficiency.
Use of tracer technology in biological nitrogen fixation research (E.S. Jensen, G. Hardarson, M.B. Peoples).
Dynamics of legume nitrogen fixation in intercrops and in crop rotations (E.S. Jensen).
Use of nitrogen-15 tracers to quantify biological nitrogen fixation in leguminous crops (G. Hardarson).
Nitrogen balance in cropping systems that include legumes (M.B. Peoples).
Use of tracer technology for the management of organic sources (R. Hood-Nowotny, C. van Kessel, B. Vanlauwe).
Isotope labelling methods for evaluating contributions of organic sources to plant nutrition (R. Hood-Nowotny).
Nitrogen transformation and turnover in soils amended with organic sources (C. van Kessel).
Contributions of organic sources to plant nutrition (B. Vanlauwe).
Conclusion.
List of contributors.