Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 1, 2025

Microplot Design and Plant and Soil Sample Preparation for 15Nitrogen Analysis
Published on: May 10, 2020
Food and feed trade has greatly impacted global land and nitrogen use efficiencies over 1961-2017
Zhaohai Bai1,2, Wenqi Ma3, Hao Zhao1
1Key Laboratory of Agricultural Water Resources, Hebei Key Laboratory of Soil Ecology, Center for Agricultural Resources Research, Institute of Genetic and Developmental Biology, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shijiazhuang, China.
Abstract:
International trade of agricultural products has complicated and far-reaching impacts on land and nitrogen use efficiencies. We analysed the productivity of cropland and livestock and associated use of feed and fertilizer efficiency for over 240 countries, and estimated these countries' cumulative contributions to imports and exports of 190 agricultural products for the period 1961-2017. Crop trade has increased global land and partial fertilizer nitrogen productivities in terms of protein production, which equalled savings of 2,270 Mha cropland and 480 Tg synthetic fertilizer nitrogen over the analysed period. However, crop trade decreased global cropland productivity when productivity is expressed on an energy (per calorie) basis. Agricultural trade has generally moved towards optimality, that is, has increased global land and nitrogen use efficiencies during 1961-2017, but remains at a relatively low level. Overall, mixed impacts of trade on resource use indicate the need to rethink trade patterns and improve their optimality.
More Related Videos
10:29Calibrated Passive Sampling - Multi-plot Field Measurements of NH3 Emissions with a Combination of Dynamic Tube Method and Passive Samplers
Published on: March 21, 2016
11:02The Use of an Automated System GreenFeed to Monitor Enteric Methane and Carbon Dioxide Emissions from Ruminant Animals
Published on: September 7, 2015
Related Concept Videos
Key Elements for Plant Nutrition
The Nitrogen Cycle
Overview of Nitrogen Metabolism
The largest pool of nitrogen available in the terrestrial ecosystem is gaseous nitrogen (N2) from the air, but this...
Microorganisms in Agriculture and Food industry
The Roles of Bacteria and Fungi in Plant Nutrition
Inorganic Nitrogen Assimilation