Cereal production trends, nutrient use efficiency and its management practices in agriculture: A review

Abstract

Boosting global food production to meet the escalating demand without distressing the environment is a major challenge of our time. In the present review study, a-59 years global cereal production and fertilizer use trends, nutrients use efficiency (NUE) and some of its management approaches in agriculture were evaluated. Accordingly, the world cereal production increased by 3.4-fold (876.9 to 2979 Mt) from 1961 to 2019, whereas the area of production increased moderately by 1.11 folds. The chemical N, P2O5, and K2O fertilizer consumption in cereal crop production were increased by 9.45 folds (from 6.9 to 65.2 Mt), 4-fold (from 6.6 to 26.3 Mt), and 4.34-fold (from 5.2 to 22.6 Mt), respectively. The estimated world cereal N, P, and K use efficiency is 33%, 16%, and 19%, respectively. The unaccounted 65% of N, 84% of P and 81% of K fertilizer was either remained in the soil or lost to the environment through volatilization, leaching, and run-offs leading to higher environmental and economic costs. Therefore, improving NUE is a crucial step to enhance crop yields, tackle environmental pollution, reduce production costs. Several NUE management approaches were identified such as soil management (use of organic inputs, 4R nutrient stewardship, adoption of modified fertilizer, root-zone nutrient management, etc.), plant management (growing nutrient use efficient cultivars, crop rotation, and so on), integrated soil-crop system management (ISSM), and application of precision agriculture. However, no single management approach solely resulted in higher NUE but rather the combination. Hence this could be applied in agricultural production to improve yield and NUE while minimizing environmental degradation.