The cost of mitigating nitrogen pollution

Gu and colleagues identified a group of 11 key measures, including enhanced-efficiency fertilizers, 4R nutrient stewardship (right fertilizer type, right amount, right placement and right time), irrigation and legume rotation, which could effectively reduce total N losses by 30–70%, while increasing yield and N use efficiency by 10–30% and 10–80%, respectively. Using data from 2015, the authors estimated that the net economic benefit to the whole of society resulting from abatement of reactive N losses from croplands, considering benefits to crop yield, human health, ecosystems and…