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Nitrogen is an essential nutrient for plant growth, and nitrogen fertiliser has long been critical to maintaining the high productivity of grazed pasture systems in New Zealand.
For several decades research has been done on establishing the scientific basis for nitrogen management and fertiliser application in ryegrass and clover pastures. However, with so much research going on across various locations over the years, it hasn't always been easy to step back and see the full picture.
That is what prompted AgResearch senior scientist Dr Col Gray, with the backing of the Fertiliser Association of New Zealand, to take a closer look at the research undertaken over the last 50 years. He set out to provide an overview of this research, to raise the awareness of key findings, and importantly to provide a pathway for decision makers to find and access the research on nitrogen fertiliser use and management. Identification of knowledge gaps for new avenues of enquiry was another focus.
The result of this review is now published in the New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research. The full open access article, Nitrogen fertiliser use in grazed pasture-based systems in New Zealand: a summary, can be viewed at https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00288233.2023.2198719.
The key research findings from the paper are as follows:
The review concludes: "With increasing expectations from consumers and constraints by regulators on the impact of using nitrogen fertiliser, it is likely there will still need to be innovation in the future to develop new nitrogen fertiliser products and technologies to further minimise environmental impacts and improve the efficiency of nitrogen fertiliser use".
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