IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/lauspo/v84y2019icp278-293.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Spatial distribution and uncertainties of nitrogen budgets for agriculture in the Tagus river basin in Portugal – Implications for effectiveness of mitigation measures

Author

Listed:
  • Cameira, M.R.
  • Rolim, João
  • Valente, Fernanda
  • Faro, Afonso
  • Dragosits, Ulrike
  • Cordovil, Cláudia M.d.S.

Abstract

The present study describes a methodology to quantify the gross soil nitrogen balance (SNB) for agricultural land use in the Tagus Nitrate Vulnerable Zone (TVZ) between 1989 and 2016, including effects of implementation of the EC Nitrates Directive (ND, 91/676/EEC) since 2004. The study uses decadal information from National Agricultural Census at parish level and is supported by a Geographical Information System (GIS). The average SNB of the TVZ decreased significantly (p < 0.001) from 125 kg ha−1 in 1989 to 63 kg ha−1 in 2016 (on average 1.8 kg ha−1 yr−1). The N input via irrigation water was particularly high in seven municipalities where it represents up to 35% of the total inputs. Using a Monte Carlo approach, the average uncertainty of the SNB was calculated at 12%. The most important sources of uncertainty were mineral fertilization, nitrate concentration in groundwater used for irrigation and the percentage of farmers complying with ND measures. GIS analysis shows that, at the scale of municipalities, the SNB has decreased since the ND implementation in regions dominated by irrigated intensive crop production, while the SNB has stabilized in municipalities in the south of TVZ with intensive livestock production (75% of area). We conclude that the implementation of ND and national measures to reduce the SNB was not equally effective across the TVZ. Our results indicate that the most effective measures to reduce the SNB in the future are increasing compliance of farmers with the ND related measures and measures increasing the nitrogen use efficiency of livestock manures.

Suggested Citation

  • Cameira, M.R. & Rolim, João & Valente, Fernanda & Faro, Afonso & Dragosits, Ulrike & Cordovil, Cláudia M.d.S., 2019. "Spatial distribution and uncertainties of nitrogen budgets for agriculture in the Tagus river basin in Portugal – Implications for effectiveness of mitigation measures," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 278-293.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:lauspo:v:84:y:2019:i:c:p:278-293
    DOI: 10.1016/j.landusepol.2019.02.028
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264837718313401
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.landusepol.2019.02.028?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kristensen, Søren Bech Pilgaard & Busck, Anne Gravsholt & van der Sluis, Theo & Gaube, Veronika, 2016. "Patterns and drivers of farm-level land use change in selected European rural landscapes," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 786-799.
    2. A. P. Barnes & J. Willock & L. Toma & C. Hall, 2011. "Utilising a farmer typology to understand farmer behaviour towards water quality management: Nitrate Vulnerable Zones in Scotland," Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 54(4), pages 477-494.
    3. Buckley, Cathal, 2012. "Implementation of the EU Nitrates Directive in the Republic of Ireland — A view from the farm," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 29-36.
    4. Cameira, M.R. & Fernando, R.M. & Ahuja, L.R. & Ma, L., 2007. "Using RZWQM to simulate the fate of nitrogen in field soil-crop environment in the Mediterranean region," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 90(1-2), pages 121-136, May.
    5. Richard, Annabelle & Casagrande, Marion & Jeuffroy, Marie-Hélène & David, Christophe, 2018. "An innovative method to assess suitability of Nitrate Directive measures for farm management," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 389-401.
    6. De Girolamo, Anna Maria & Balestrini, Raffaella & D’Ambrosio, Ersilia & Pappagallo, Giuseppe & Soana, Elisa & Lo Porto, Antonio, 2017. "Antropogenic input of nitrogen and riverine export from a Mediterranean catchment. The Celone, a temporary river case study," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 187(C), pages 190-199.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Athanasios Ragkos & Kentaro Hayashi & João Serra & Hideaki Shibata & Efstratios Michalis & Sadao Eguchi & Azusa Oita & Claudia Marques-dos-Santos Cordovil, 2021. "Contrasting Considerations among Agricultural Stakeholders in Japan on Sustainable Nitrogen Management," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-18, April.
    2. Serra, J. & Paredes, P. & Cordovil, CMdS & Cruz, S. & Hutchings, NJ & Cameira, MR, 2023. "Is irrigation water an overlooked source of nitrogen in agriculture?," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 278(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Richard, Annabelle & Casagrande, Marion & Jeuffroy, Marie-Hélène & David, Christophe, 2018. "An innovative method to assess suitability of Nitrate Directive measures for farm management," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 389-401.
    2. Zabala, Aiora & Pascual, Unai & García-Barrios, Luis, 2017. "Payments for Pioneers? Revisiting the Role of External Rewards for Sustainable Innovation under Heterogeneous Motivations," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 234-245.
    3. Gachango, Florence Gathoni & Andersen, Laura Mørch & Pedersen, Søren Marcus, 2015. "Adoption of voluntary water-pollution reduction technologies and water quality perception among Danish farmers," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 158(C), pages 235-244.
    4. Leduc, Gaëlle & Billaudet, Larissa & Engström, Ebba & Hansson, Helena & Ryan, Mary, 2023. "Farmers' perceived values in conventional and organic farming: A comparison between French, Irish and Swedish farmers using the Means-end chain approach," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 207(C).
    5. Shahadha, Saadi Sattar & Wendroth, Ole & Zhu, Junfeng & Walton, Jason, 2019. "Can measured soil hydraulic properties simulate field water dynamics and crop production?," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 223(C), pages 1-1.
    6. Lally, Breda & van Rensburg, Tom M., 2014. "Reducing nitrogen applications on Irish dairy farms: effectiveness and efficiency of different strategies," International Journal of Agricultural Management, Institute of Agricultural Management, vol. 4(1), October.
    7. Okumah, Murat & Martin-Ortega, Julia & Chapman, Pippa J. & Novo, Paula & Cassidy, Rachel & Lyon, Christopher & Higgins, Alex & Doody, Donnacha, 2021. "The role of experiential learning in the adoption of best land management practices," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 105(C).
    8. Peter D. Lunn & Seán Lyons & Martin Murphy, 2020. "Predicting farms’ noncompliance with regulations on nitrate pollution," Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 63(13), pages 2313-2333, November.
    9. Kristensen, Søren Bech Pilgaard & Præstholm, Søren & Busck, Anne Gravsholt & Winther, Lars & Fertner, Christian & Vesterager, Jens Peter & Vejre, Henrik, 2019. "On-farm Business Structure Diversification in Greater Copenhagen—Farmers in an urban landscape or entrepreneurs in a rural landscape?," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    10. Alessia Cogato & Andrea Pezzuolo & Claus Grøn Sørensen & Roberta De Bei & Marco Sozzi & Francesco Marinello, 2020. "A GIS-Based Multicriteria Index to Evaluate the Mechanisability Potential of Italian Vineyard Area," Land, MDPI, vol. 9(11), pages 1-17, November.
    11. Daxini, Amar & O’Donoghue, Cathal & Ryan, Mary & Buckley, Cathal & Barnes, Andrew P., 2018. "Factors influencing farmers' intentions to adopt nutrient management planning: accounting for heterogeneity," 166th Seminar, August 30-31, 2018, Galway, West of Ireland 276183, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    12. Wang, Xiangping & Huang, Guanhua, 2008. "Evaluation on the irrigation and fertilization management practices under the application of treated sewage water in Beijing, China," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 95(9), pages 1011-1027, September.
    13. Cameira, M.R. & Pereira, A. & Ahuja, L. & Ma, L., 2014. "Sustainability and environmental assessment of fertigation in an intensive olive grove under Mediterranean conditions," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 346-360.
    14. Ding, Dianyuan & Yang, Zijie & Wu, Lihong & Zhao, Ying & Zhang, Xi & Chen, Xiaoping & Feng, Hao & Zhang, Chao & Wendroth, Ole, 2024. "Optimizing nitrogen-fertilizer management by using RZWQM2 with consideration of precipitation can enhance nitrogen utilization on the Loess Plateau," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 299(C).
    15. Ricci, Giovanni Francesco & D’Ambrosio, Ersilia & De Girolamo, Anna Maria & Gentile, Francesco, 2022. "Efficiency and feasibility of Best Management Practices to reduce nutrient loads in an agricultural river basin," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 259(C).
    16. Thomas Dax & Karin Schroll & Ingrid Machold & Martyna Derszniak-Noirjean & Bernd Schuh & Mailin Gaupp-Berghausen, 2021. "Land Abandonment in Mountain Areas of the EU: An Inevitable Side Effect of Farming Modernization and Neglected Threat to Sustainable Land Use," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-17, June.
    17. Li, Yue & Xu, Xu & Hu, Min & Chen, Zhijun & Tan, Junwei & Liu, Liu & Xiong, Yunwu & Huang, Quanzhong & Huang, Guanhua, 2023. "Modeling water−salt−nitrogen dynamics and crop growth of saline maize farmland in Northwest China: Searching for appropriate irrigation and N fertilization strategies," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 282(C).
    18. Schüler, Stefan & Noack, Eva Maria, 2019. "Does the CAP reflect the population's concerns about agricultural landscapes? A qualitative study in Lower Saxony, Germany," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 240-255.
    19. Marko OGOREVC & Renata SLABE-ERKER, 2018. "Assessment of the European Common Agricultural Policy and landscape changes: an example from Slovenia," Agricultural Economics, Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences, vol. 64(11), pages 489-498.
    20. Long, Kaisheng & Omrani, Hichem & Pijanowski, Bryan C., 2020. "Impact of local payments for ecosystem services on land use in a developed area of China: A qualitative analysis based on an integrated conceptual framework," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 96(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:lauspo:v:84:y:2019:i:c:p:278-293. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Joice Jiang (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/land-use-policy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.