Davis, California
June 11, 2009
UC Davis begins $2.8 million in
studies of agricultural nitrogen's impacts
UC Davis researchers will receive $2.8 million in new grants
to study the use and impacts of nitrogen, a hero of the
agricultural revolution that is increasingly viewed as a
worrisome source of water and air pollution and potent
greenhouse gases.
"This is one of the most important and least publicized
environmental issues we face: Escaped nitrogen from agricultural
production affects the quality of our air, water, and soil and
has huge potential to contribute to climate change," said Tom
Tomich, director of the
Agricultural Sustainability Institute at UC Davis.
"Many members of the public and politicians are unaware of the
scope of this challenge. And many farmers are unaware that
nitrogen management can save them money."
Nitrogen is a chemical element that occurs naturally in Earth's
air, water and soil. It is essential to life, and cycles through
all plants, animals and people. Nitrogen-based fertilizers help
California farmers produce more than 400 agricultural
commodities -- vegetables, fruits, meats and dairy products
worth $36 billion a year.
But excess nitrogen is emitted from soils, seeps into
groundwater and runs off into surface waters. Wastes from
cattle, chickens and other livestock include nitrogen. Farm
machines burning oil, gasoline and diesel release nitrogen to
the air.
The resulting environmental impacts include:
- Trapped solar radiation in
the atmosphere, contributing to the "greenhouse effect" that
is changing the Earth's climate;
- Decreased high-altitude
ozone, which allows more solar radiation to reach Earth's
surface, causing skin cancer and adding to the greenhouse
effect;
- Increased smog and
ground-level ozone, which can cause or worsen respiratory
diseases such as asthma and viral infections such as the
common cold;
- High concentrations of
nitrates in groundwater, which can cause methemoglobinemia,
or "blue baby disease," and possibly bladder and ovarian
cancers; and
- Nitrogen runoff in bays
and coastal areas, where it makes algae numbers spike then
crash, drawing oxygen from the water and leading to "dead
zones" -- areas that cannot support finfish, shellfish or
most other aquatic life.
Those environmental impacts are
not fully documented, Tomich said.
"With this new funding, we can start to fill in those blanks,
and improve management of nitrogen, carbon and water to help
move agriculture toward sustainability in significant ways," he
said.
Data on agricultural nitrogen pollution are limited, and some
nitrogen pollution forms are difficult to monitor. Measurements
can be labor-intensive and expensive and are influenced by
variables such as weather conditions, irrigation timing and
method, and crop-specific fertilization practices.
The new studies should improve data-collection methods, said
Agricultural Sustainability Institute researcher Johan Six, a
professor in the Department of Plant Sciences.
"It's urgent that we know how much nitrous oxide and other
greenhouse gases are released during irrigation and
fertilization of farm lands in California," Six said. "The good
news is we know that it is economically feasible to reduce these
emissions. The first step is quantifying the necessary
reductions."
The new Agricultural Sustainability Institute grants and
objectives include:
- $1.5 million from the
David and Lucile Packard Foundation for a statewide
assessment of existing scientific evidence on nitrogen
use in conventional and alternative farming systems, and
relevant practices and policy options. Also: a program
to improve communication about nitrogen concerns among
California farmers, ranchers, extension advisors,
environmental and community groups, agribusiness
(including the fertilizer industry) and government
agencies (including California Department of Food and
Agriculture and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency).
This grant is to the Agricultural Sustainability
Institute, in collaboration with the University of
California Agricultural Issues Center, Kearney
Foundation for Soil Science, and the UC Sustainable
Agriculture Research and Education Program.
- $500,000 from the
California Energy Commission and $350,000 from the David
and Lucile Packard Foundation to Johan Six for new
research on nitrous oxide emissions in various farming
systems.
- $300,000 from the
California Air Resources Board to Will Horwath,
professor in the UC Davis Department of Land, Air and
Water Resources, for research on practical ways to
reduce nitrous oxide emissions in California
agriculture.
- $150,000 from the
California Department of Food and Agriculture's
Fertilizer Research and Education Program to Horwath,
Six and David Goorahoo, an assistant professor at the
Center for Irrigation Technology at California State
University, Fresno, to measure nitrous oxide emissions
from cotton, corn and vegetable cropping systems.
Established in 2006 by the UC
Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, the
Agricultural Sustainability Institute includes the University of
California's statewide Sustainable Agriculture Research and
Education Program (SAREP), the Student Farm at UC Davis, and the
Russell Ranch Sustainable Agriculture Facility at UC Davis, as
well as programs at other campuses across California.
For 100 years, UC Davis has engaged in teaching, research and
public service that matter to California and transform the
world. Located close to the state capital, UC Davis has 31,000
students, an annual research budget that exceeds $500 million, a
comprehensive health system and 13 specialized research centers.
The university offers interdisciplinary graduate study and more
than 100 undergraduate majors in four colleges -- Agricultural
and Environmental Sciences, Biological Sciences, Engineering,
and Letters and Science -- and advanced degrees from six
professional schools -- Education, Law, Management, Medicine,
Veterinary Medicine and the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing. |
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