Nitrogen Use Efficiency - Agronomy and Biotechnology

Precision Ag Solutions - Ireland

Hungry and Naked - That's Where We'd Be Without Agriculture!

Proper mineral nutrition is vital for realizing full yield potential of any crop. Irish producers are facing with challenges of identifying the best nitrogen fertilizer rates as well as the best time of fertilizer application. Currently, only 1/3 of all applied N is utilized by crops, while the other 2/3 are simply lost from the soil causing water pollution, posing danger to marine life, as well as human health. Apart from negative environmental impact, the loss of 2/3 of nitrogen ultimately represents the loss of 2/3 of money that crop producers spent on fertilizer.

Nitrogen use efficiency has 2 components, that are probably equally important:

• The first component is to do with how efficient are nitrogen fertilizer management strategies employed by the producers. This component is dependent on whether the rate of applied fertilizer is appropriate for the crop grown - whether or not the rate is able to match crops need for nitrogen.
• The second component is associated with the ability of the crop to uptake (absorb from the soil) and to utilize (convert absorbed nitrogen into yield) supplied nitrogen.

While significant advances has been achieved in identifying genes associated with higher nitrogen use efficiency in several crop (mainly wheat, corn, rice, and some horticultural crops), it will take years until highly nitrogen use efficient varieties are released for wide use among crop producers. It is natural to expect that these varieties will be considerably more expensive compared to those currently used by farmers. Thus, developing of highly nitrogen efficient crops has to be seen as a promising long-term goal.
Meanwhile, the importance of efficient agricultural practices and wise fertilization techniques must be considered as the main solution to increasing nitrogen use efficiency, and thus, cutting fertilizer inputs.
Precision Ag Solutions have developed Intelligent Farming Program especially for Irish growers interested in making their farming operations more efficient and cost-effective. Attending our Intelligent Farming Workshop is a great opportunity to share your farming experiences with with other producers, and make contacts. But most importantly obtain valuable information on how to use your resources wisely and how to save significant amount of money on fertilizer and chemicals without compromising yields.
Precision Agriculture offers fantastic opportunities to any crop producer who wants to be successful and prosperous even in tough financial times!
Please contact our Precision Agriculture specialists by email: soilmanager@hotmail.com, or by phone: 087-415-1843, 085-240-7668.