Abstract
Sustainable nitrogen (N) management in agriculture is one of the most important issues affecting the environmental performance of modern agriculture. It is actually well perceived that coordinated efforts and holistic approaches are required to regulate N use by farmers. The purpose of this study was to provide an initial examination of stakeholders’ views in Japan regarding N use in agriculture and challenges to increase its sustainability. The analysis was based on a questionnaire study of five types of stakeholders (farmers, advisors, researchers, suppliers, policy makers). By means of multivariate analysis techniques it was revealed that consensus was lacking either in the acknowledgment of the causes and effects of unsustainable N management or in the challenges that need to be addressed. N losses from farms and the effects of N use were perceived but not conceived equally by all stakeholders. Organic farming and mandatory measures were the most controversial challenges, while those involving awareness, training and advisory were the most popular. This study cannot provide safe conclusions that can be generalized in the Japanese context, but it indicates domains where further research is required and orientations for future policy design towards more sustainable N use.
Highlights
A common characteristic of modern production systems is the over-exploitation of natural resources such as water and soil in order to meet the growing demand for food worldwide
Within the Towards International Nitrogen Management System (INMS) project, a questionnaire was developed, aiming to record and analyze the attitudes, opinions, interests and aspirations of agricultural stakeholders worldwide regarding the sustainable management of N inputs in agriculture
The findings of this study pinpointed that advisory and training for farmers constitute key challenges that should be considered toward sustainable N use
Summary
A common characteristic of modern production systems is the over-exploitation of natural resources such as water and soil in order to meet the growing demand for food worldwide. The overuse of N in agricultural activities and its excess in the environment serve as primary examples of the type of urgent problem of agriculture, but N is a limiting factor in production systems, considering that gains in production of important crops are a result of increased inputs of N [1]. To face this challenge, the adoption of sustainable N management is necessary with measures at local and global scales. Agriculture is the biggest anthropogenic source of nitrate, a major pollutant of surface and groundwater, and of nitrous oxide (N2 O), a potent greenhouse gas accounting for 52% of the world anthropogenic N2 O emissions on average
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