1. Nitrogen and Phosphorus Balances of Hungarian Farms as Management Tools for Sustainable Agriculture
- Author
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D'Haene, Karoline, Magyar, Marianna, De Neve, Stefaan, Pálmai, Ottó, Nagy, János, Németh, Tamás, and Hofman, Georges
- Subjects
NITROGEN ,CROPS ,PHOSPHORUS ,MOVEMENT of fertilizers in soils ,CROP yields ,PLANT fertilization ,SUSTAINABLE agriculture ,SOIL fertility ,SOIL productivity - Abstract
At the moment, Hungarian agriculture is confronted with a certain duality as far as nutrients are concerned. On the one hand, national soil nutrient balances show substantial deficits, and on the other hand, agricultural nutrient use is responsible for a part of the nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) losses to the environment. To understand this duality and help optimize farm nutrient management, the farm gate N and P balances of 12 farms, representing a variety of Hungarian agriculture, were calculated for the year 2002. The farm gate N and P surpluses/deficits in the east of the country were lower than in the west. This was correlated with a lower fertilization rate. The low soil fertility level due to a prolonged period of low fertilization in combination with continuing nutrient deficits can lead to possible future reduction in crop yields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2006
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