The MARVIC project
Published June 23, 2025 | Version v1
Journal article Open

The environmental trade-off of fertiliser, residue and catch crop management in Danish cropping systems

Creators

  • 1. Pioneer Center Land-CRAFT, Department of Agroecology, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
  • 2. Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research, Atmospheric Environmental Research (IMK-IFU), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany
  • 3. Department of Ecoscience, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark

Description

Nitrogen is an essential macronutrient in agriculture, affecting both crop yields and soil health. In Denmark, one of the most densely farmed regions in the world, excess reactive nitrogen (Nr) compounds are lost to the environment along gaseous and hydrological pathways in forms such as nitrate, ammonia, nitrogen oxides and dinitrogen.
 
Here, we aim to assess the effect of different field management practices (fertilisation, crop residue management or cultivation of catch crops) on environmental Nr losses and the field scale soil net GHG balance (i.e., sum of soil C stock changes and direct and indirect N2O emissions).
 
For this purpose, highly detailed data from the Danish Agricultural Watershed Monitoring Program (LOOP-program; 2013–2019) were used in combination with the process-based model LandscapeDNDC.
 
The results indicate that a mixture of organic and synthetic fertilisers turns soils to a stronger net sink of GHGs (∼70 – ∼514 kgCO2−eq ha−1 yr−1) compared to exclusive use of only one type of fertiliser. In addition, incorporating crop residue and cultivation of catch crops increases the nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) by 3–11 % on average and decreases environmental Nr losses.
 
These findings emphasize the potential of targeted fertiliser, residue and catch crop management to increase the sustainability of crop production systems in Denmark.
 

Files

1-s2.0-S0308521X25001738-main.pdf

Files (4.1 MB)

Name Size Download all
md5:62902d753e5623dbca250aaccda2d0f7
4.1 MB Preview Download

Additional details

Funding

European Commission
MARVIC - Developing and testing a framework for the design of harmonized, context-specific Monitoring, Reporting and Verification systems for soil Carbon and greenhouse gas balances by Agricultural activities 101112942

Dates

Available
2025-06-23