Increasing nitrogen (N) recovery efficiency (NUEr) is crucial for sustainable food production. This study assessed the impacts of nutrient, crop, and soil management on NUEr using meta-regression models with 2436 observations from 407 studies. Nutrient management increased NUEr by 3.6–11%, crop management by 4.4–8%, while tillage reduction showed no significant effect. Site conditions strongly influenced NUEr changes. Models predict a 30% global mean NUEr increase (from 48% to 78%) with optimal management, mostly achievable by optimizing nutrient (27%) and crop (6.6%) management. This increase would largely reconcile crop production with acceptable N losses.

Luncheng You, Gerard H. Ros, Yongliang Chen, Qi Shao, Madaline D. Young, Fusuo Zhang, Wim de Vries