The Library

EU-Rotate_N – a decision support system – to predict environmental and economic consequences of the management of nitrogen fertiliser in crop rotations

Tools

Rahn, C. (Clive), Zhang, Kefeng, Lillywhite, Robert, Ramos, C., Doltra, J., De Paz, J. M., Riley, H., Fink, M., Nendel, Claas, Thorup Kristensen, K., Pedersen, Anders, Piro, F., Venezia, A., Firth, C., Schmutz, Ulrich, Rayns, Francis and Strohmeyer, K.. (2010) EU-Rotate_N – a decision support system – to predict environmental and economic consequences of the management of nitrogen fertiliser in crop rotations. European Journal of Horticultural Science, Vol.75 (No.1). ISSN 1611-4426

PDF
WRAP_Rahn_0380313-hr-160210-accepted_-_eu-rotate_n_paper-_13_july_09.pdf
Restricted to Repository staff only until 1 January 2015. - Requires a PDF viewer such as GSview, Xpdf or Adobe Acrobat Reader
Download (275Kb)

Official URL: http://www.ulmer.de/TUlEPTE0MTg.html?UID=EE2FFB5B5...

Abstract

A model has been developed which assesses the economic and environmental performance of crop rotations, in both conventional and organic cropping, for over 70 arable and horticultural crops, and a wide range of growing conditions in Europe. The model, though originally based on the N_ABLE model, has been completely rewritten and contains new routines to simulate root development, the mineralisation and release of nitrogen (N) from soil organic matter and crop residues, and water dynamics in soil. New routines have been added to estimate the effects of sub-optimal rates of N and spacing on the marketable outputs and gross margins. The model provides a mechanism for generating scenarios to represent a range of differing crop and fertiliser management strategies which can be used to evaluate their effects on yield, gross margin and losses of nitrogen through leaching. Such testing has revealed that nitrogen management can be improved and that there is potential to increase gross margins whilst reducing nitrogen losses.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Subjects:	S Agriculture > SB Plant culture
Divisions:	Faculty of Science > Life Sciences (2010- ) > Warwick HRI (2004-2010)
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Crop rotation -- Mathematical models, Organic farming -- Europe, Nitrogen fertilizers -- Control, Soils -- Nitrogen content
Journal or Publication Title:	European Journal of Horticultural Science
Publisher:	Verlag Eugen Ulmer GmbH
ISSN:	1611-4426
Date:	February 2010
Volume:	Vol.75
Number:	No.1
Status:	Peer Reviewed
Publication Status:	Published
Access rights to Published version:	Restricted or Subscription Access
Funder:	Commission of the European Communities. Directorate-General for Research, Science, and Education (DGRSE)
Grant number:	QLK5-2002-01100 (DGRSE)
References:	ABRAHAMSEN, P. and S. HANSEN 2000: Daisy: an open soil-crop-atmosphere system model. Environ. Model. Software 15, 313-330. ADDISCOTT, T.M. and A.P. WHITMORE 1987: Computer-simulation of changes in soil mineral nitrogen and crop nitrogen during autumn, winter and spring. J. Agric. Sci. 109, 141-157. AG BODENKUNDE 1994: Bodenkundliche Kartieranleitung. 4 623 . Auflage. E. Schweizerbartsche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Hannover. ALLEN, R.G., L.S. PEREIRA, D. RAES andM. SMITH 1998: Crop evapotranspiration. Guidelines for computing crop water requirements. FAO Irrigation and Drainage Paper n° 56, FAO, Roma. BARANAUSKIS, K., V. BANDZEVICIUTE, G. SAMUOLIENE, G. SABAJEVIENE, R. ULINSKAITE, J. SAKALAUSKAITE and P. DUCHOVSKIS 2005: Dimensions of the determination methodology of white cabbage (Brassica oleracea L. var. capitata f. alba L.) assimilation area. Sodininkyste ir Darzininkyste 24, 42-47 BERNTSEN, J., B.M. PETERSEN, B.H. JACOBSEN, J.E. OLESEN and N.J. HUTCHINGS 2003: Evaluating nitrogen taxation scenarios using the dynamic whole farm simulation model FASSET. Agr. Syst. 76, 817-839 CUTTLE, S.P. 2006: Development of the FBC model to estimate the nitrogen available from fertility-building crops in organic rotations. Aspect. Appl. Biol. 79, 259-226 DE CLERCQ, P., A.C. GERTSIS, G. HOFMAN, S.C. JARVIS, J.J. NEETESON and F. SINABELL (EDS.) 2001: Nutrient Management Legislation in European Countries. Department of Soil Management and Soil Care, Faculty of Agricultural and Applied Biological sciences. Wageningen Press The Netherlands. DEMYTTENAERE, P., G. HOFMAN, D. RONSE and M. VAN RUYMBEKE 1990: Excessive soil mineral-N at harvest of field-grown vegetables: impact on nitrate pollution of ground and surface water. In: Calvert, R. (ed.) Symposium "Nitrates, Agriculture, Water" Paris - November 1990, INRA. 239-244. DOLTRA, J., C. NENDEL and C. RAMOS 2007: Evaluation of different fertilisation practices with the EU-ROTATE_N model. In: BOSH, A., M.R. TEIRA and J.M. VILLAR (eds.): Towards a better efficiency in N use. Editorial Milenio (Spain). 426-428. DWD 2003: Daily weather data for selected stations in Germany. http://www.dwd.de/de/FundE/Klima/KLIS/daten/online/nat/ausgabe_tageswerte.htm. FARES, E. 2003: Agriculture pollution control policies: a case study of nitrate pollution in the Apulia region (Southern Italy). Master Thesis. Institut Agronomique Mediterraneen de Montpellier (64) Paris: Centre International de Hautes Etudes Agronomiques Mediterraneennes Institute, Washington D.C. FINK,M. and H.C. SCHARPF 1993: N-expert – a decision support system for vegetable fertilization in the field. Acta Hort. 339, 67–74 FYSTRO, G., B. HOEL, H. HOLE, T. LUNNAN and H. RILEY 2006: www.bioforsk.no/dok/senter/ost/ape/gjodslingshandbok/gjodslingshandbok.html&ResearchAreaID=2 GERWITZ, A., and E.R. PAGE 1974: Empirical mathematical-model to 659 describe plant root systems. J. Appl. Ecol. 11, 773-781. GOULDING, K. 2000: Nitrate leaching from arable and horticultural land. Soil Use Manag. 16,145- 151. GREENWOOD, D.J. 2001: Modelling N-response of Field Vegetable Crops grown under Diverse Conditions with N_ABLE: A review. J. Plant Nutr. 24, 1799-1815 HANKS, R.J. 1983: Yield and water-use relationships: An overview. In: H.M. Taylor et al. (eds.): Limitations to efficient water use in crop production. ASA, Madison, WI., 393-411. HANSEN, S., H.E. JENSEN, N.E. NIELSEN and H. SVENDSEN 1990: Daisy - A Soil Plant Atmosphere System Model. NPO Research from the National Agency of Environmental Protection. No. A 10. 272 pp. HASLER, B. 1998: Analysis of environmental policy measures aimed at reducing nitrogen leaching at the farm level. Environ. Pollut. 102, 749-754. HE, Z.L., A.K. ALVA, D.V. CALVERT and D.J. BANKS 1999: Ammonia volatilization from different fertilizer sources and effects of temperature and soil pH. Soil Sci. 164,750-758. HUGHES, D.,W. BUTCHER, A. JARADAT andW. PENARANDA 1995: Economic analysis of the long675 term consequences of farming practices in the barley cropping area of Jordan. Agr. Syst. 47, 39- 58. JANSSON, P.E. 1991: Simulation model for soil water and heat conditions. Report 165, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, 72 pp. JENSEN, L.S., T. SALO, F. PALMASON, T.A. BRELAND, T.M. HENRIKSEN, B. STENBERG, A. PEDERSEN, C. LUNDSTRÖM and M. ESALA 2005: Influence of biochemical quality on C and N mineralisation from a broad variety of plant materials in soil. Plant Soil 273, 307-326. JOHNSON, S.L., R.M. ADAMS and G.M. PERRY 1991: The on-farm costs of reducing groundwater pollution. Am. J. Agric. Econ. 73, 1063-1073.. KAGE,H., M. KOCHLER and H. STÜTZEL 2000: Root growth of cauliflower (Brassica oleracea L. botrytis) under unstressed conditions: measurement and modelling. Plant Soil 223, 131-145. KARVONEN, T. 2003 (internet publication): Model of snow accumulation and snowmelt. www.water.hut.fi/wr/kurssit/Yhd-12.135/kirja/paa_e.htm KELLY, T.C., Y.C. LU, and J. TEASDALE 1996: Economic-environmental tradeoffs among alternative crop rotations. Agr. Ecosyst. Environ. 60, 17-28. KERSEBAUM, K.C., J.M. HECKER, W. MIRSCHEL and M. WEGEHENKEL 2007: Modelling water and nutrient dynamics in soil-crop systems: a comparison of simulation models applied on common data sets. In: Kersebaum, K. C., J.M. Hecker, 693 W. Mirschel and M. Wegehenkel (Eds.): Modelling water and nutrient dynamics in soil crop systems. Springer, Stuttgart, 1-17. KOOPMANS, C.J. and J. BOKHORST 2002: Nitrogen mineralisation in organic farming systems: a test of the NDICEA model. Agronomie 22, 855-862. KRISTENSEN, H.L. and K. THORUP-KRISTENSEN 2004: Uptake of 15N labeled nitrate by root systems of sweet corn, carrot and white cabbage from 0.2 to 2.5 m depth. Plant Soil 265, 93-100. MORARI, F., E. LUGATO and M. BORIN 2004: An integrated non-point source model-GIS system for selecting criteria of best management practices in the Po Valley, North Italy. Agr. Ecosyst Environ. 102, 247-262 MOTOVILOV, Y.G., L. GOTTSCHALK, K. ENGELAND and A. BELOKUROV 1999: ECOMAG: Regional model of hydrological cycle. Application to the NOPEX region. Dept. Geophysics, University of Oslo, Report no. 1051, 88 pp. NASH, J.E. and J.V. SUTCLIFFE 1970: River flow forecasting through conceptual models, Part I - A discussion of principles. J. Hydrol. 10, 282-290. NEETESON, J.J., and O.T. CARTON 2001: The environmental impact of Nitrogen in Field Vegetable Production. In proceedings of ISHS/ENVEG conference 1999. Acta Hort. 563, 21-28. NENDEL, C. 2008: Evaluation of Best Management Practices for N fertilisation in regional field vegetable production with a small scale simulation model. Eur. J. Agron., in press. NENDEL, C., U. SCHMUTZ, A. VENEZIA, F. PIRO and C.R. RAHN 2008: Modelling marketable yield for economic analysis of N fertilisation strategies for vegetables. HortScience, under review. NRCS 2004: Estimation of direct runoff from storm rainfall. In: National Engineering Handbook, Part 630 – Hydrology. USDA. OLSEN, P.A.and L.E. HAUGEN 1997: Jordas termiske egenskaper. Dept. Soil and Water Science, Agricultural University of Norway, Rapport nr. 8, 14 pp. (in Norwegian) PADEL, S. 2002: Development of software to plan conversion to organic production (OrgPlan). In: Powell, J. et al (eds.) UK Organic Research 2002: Proceedings of the COR Conference, Aberystwyth, 169-172. PEDERSEN, A., ZHANG, K., THORUP-KRISTESEN, K. and JENSEN, L.S. (2009) Modelling diverse root density dynamics and deep nitrogen uptake - A simple approach, Plant Soil (DOI: 10.1007/s11104-009-0028-8) RAHN, C.R., L. VAIDYANATHAN and C. PATERSON 1992: Nitrogen residues from brassica crops. Aspect. Appl. Biol. 30, 263-270. RAHN, C.R., D.J. GREENWOOD and A. DRAYCOTT 1996: Prediction of nitrogen fertiliser requirement with HRI WELL_N Computer Model. In: Van Cleemput, O., G. Hofman and A. Vermoesen (eds.) Progress in Nitrogen Cycling (Proceedings of the 8th Nitrogen Fixation Workshop, Ghent, 5-8 September 1994), Kluwer, 255-258. RAHN, C.R., C.D. PATERSON and L.V.V. VAIDYANATHAN 1998: The use of measurements of soil mineral N in understanding the response of crops to fertilizer nitrogen in intensive cropping rotations. J. Agr. Sci. 130, 345-356. REJESUS, R.M. and R.H. HORNBAKER 1999: Economic and environmental evaluation of alternative pollution-reducing nitrogen management practices in central Illinois. Agr. Ecosyst. Environ. 75, 41-53. RILEY, H. and H. BONESMO 2005: Modelling of snow and freeze-thaw cycles in the EU-rotate_N decision support system. Grønn Kunnskap (e) vol. 9, no. 112, 8 pp. RITCHIE, J.T. 1998: Soil water balance and plant water stress. In: G.Y. Tsuji et al (eds.): Understanding options for agricultural production . Dordrecht. Kluwer Academic Press, 41-54. ROSE, D. 1968: Water movement in porous materials III. Evaporation of water from soil. Brit. J. Appl. Phys. ser 2(1), 1779-1791. SADEGHI, A.M., K.J. MCINNES, D.E. KISSEL, M.L. CABRERA, J.K. KOELLIKER and E.T. KANEMASU 1988: Mechanistic model for predicting ammonia volatilization from urea. In: B.R. Bock und D.E. Kissel (Hrsg.), Ammonia volatilization from urea fertilizers. National Fertilizer Development Centre, Tennessee Valley Authority, Muscle Shoals, Alabama, 67- 92. SAXTON, K.E., W.J. RAWLS, J.S. ROMBERGER and R.I. PAPENDICK 1986: Estimating generalized soil-water characteristics from texture. Soil Sci. Soc. Amer. J. 50, 1031-1036. SCHRÖDER, J.J., J. GROENWOLD and T. ZAHARIEVA 1996: Soil mineral nitrogen availability to young maize plants as related to root length density distribution and fertilizer application method. Neth. J. Agr. Sci. 44, 209-225. SHANI U., and L. M. DUDLEY 2001: Field studies of crop response to water and salt stress. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 65, 1522–1528. SCHMUTZ, U., F. RAYNS, C. FIRTH, A. ROSENFELD, K. THORUP-KRISTENSEN, K. ZHANG and C. RAHN 2006: Environmental and economic modelling of organic, stockless, horticultural crop rotations. In: Andreasen, C.B., L. Elsgaard, S.L. Sondegaard and G. Hansen (eds.): Proceedings of the European Joint Organic Congress, Odense, Denmark, May 30-31, 2006, 238-241. SCHMUTZ, U., F. RAYNS, C. FIRTH, C. NENDEL, R. LILLYWHITE, K. ZHANG and C. RAHN 2008: National-scale modelling of N leaching in organic and conventional horticultural crop rotations – policy implications. In: Neuhoff, D., N. Halberg, T. Alföldi, W. Lockeretz, A. Thommen, I.A. Rasmussen, J. Hermansen, M. Vaarst, L. Lueck, F. Caporali, H.H. Jensen, P. Migliorini, H. Willer (eds.): Cultivating the Future Based on Science. Volume 1: Organic crop production, 282- 285. SCHNEBELEN, N., B. NICOULLAUD, H. BOURENNANE, A. COUTURIER, B. VERBEQUE, C. REVALIER, A. BRUAND and E. LEDOUX 2004: The STICS model to predict nitrate leaching following agricultural practices. Agronomie 24, 423-435. SØGAARD, H.T., S.G. SOMMER, N.J. HUTCHINGS, J.F.M. HUIJSMANS, D.W. BUSSINK and F. NICHOLSON 2002: Ammonia volatilization from field-applied animal slurry - the ALFAM model. Atmos. Environ. 36, 3309-3319. TEAGUE, M.L., D.J. BEMARDO and H.P. MAPP 1995: Farm-level economic analysis incorporating stochastic environmental risk assessment. Am. J. Agr. Econ. 77, 8-19. THORUP-KRISTENSEN, K. 2001: Are differences in root growth of nitrogen catch crops important for their ability to reduce soil nitrate-N content, and how can this be measured? Plant Soil 230, 185-195. THORUP-KRISTENSEN, K. and R. VAN DEN BOOGAARD 1998: Temporal and spatial root development of cauliflower (Brassica oleracea L. var. botrytis L.). Plant Soil 201, 37-47. THORUP-KRISTENSEN, K. and R. VAN DEN BOOGAARD 1999: Vertical and horizontal development of the root system of carrots following green manure. Plant Soil 212, 145-153. THORUP-KRISTENSEN, K. 2006A: Root growth and nitrogen uptake of carrot, early cabbage, onion and lettuce following a range of green manures. Soil Use Man. 22, 29-38. THORUP-KRISTENSEN, K. 2006B: Effect of deep and shallow root systems on the dynamics of soil inorganic N during three year crop rotations. Plant Soil 288, 233-248. VAN DER BURGT, G.J.H.M., G.J.M. OOMEN, A.S.J. HABETS and W.A.H. ROSSING 2006: The NDICEA model, a tool to improve nitrogen use efficiency in cropping systems. Nutr. Cycl. Agroecosys. 74, 275-294. VATN, A., L. BAKKEN, P. BOTTERWEG and E. ROMSTAD 1999: ECECMOD: an interdisciplinary modelling system for analyzing nutrient and soil losses from agriculture. Ecol. Econ. 30, 189- 205. VATN, A., L. BAKKEN, M.A. BLEKEN, O.H. BAADSHAUG, H. FYKSE, L.E. HAUGEN, H. LUNDEKVAM, J. MORKEN, E. ROMSTAD, P.K. RØRSTAD, A.O. SKJELVÅG, T. SOGN, N. VAGSTAD and E. YSTAD 2002: ECECMOD (2.0): An Interdisciplinary Research Tool for Analysing Policies to Reduce Emissions from Agriculture. Report no. 3/2002, Agricultural University of Norway. VEHVILÄINEN, B. and J. LOHVANSUU 1991: The effects of climate on water discharges and snow cover in Finland. Hydrolog. Sci. J. 36, 109-121. WILLMOTT, C.J. 1981: On the validation of models. Phys. Geogr. 2, 184-194. WILLMOTT, C.J. and K.MATSUURA 2005: Advantages of the mean absolute error (MAE) over the root mean square error (RMSE) in assessing average model performance. Clim. Res. 30, 79-82.
URI:	http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/2819