nitrogen fertilizer

Umwelt-Indikator

Indicator: Agricultural nitrogen surplus

A graph shows the agricultural nitrogen surpluses for individual years and as rolling 5-year means between 1990 and 2021. The 5-year-mean nitrogen surpluses in kilogrammes per hectare dropped from 117 to 82. The target for 2030 is 70 kilogrammes per hectare and year.

The five-year average of nitrogen surplus of the total balance per hectare of utilized agricultural land has decreased by 30 % since 1992.The Federal Government aims to reduce the average nitrogen surplus of the total balance of the years 2028 to 2032 to 70 kilogrammes per hectare of agricultural land.If the trend of the last 10 years continues, the target will be reached. read more

Agriculture

Nitrous oxide and methane

Cows standing on a green meadow. The sky is blue, only some clouds are visible.

Tilling, nitrogen fertilizers and livestock farming are key sources of the greenhouse gases nitrous oxide and methane, as the statistics clearly show: in 2016 59 per cent of all methane emissions and 80 per cent of all nitrous oxide emissions resulted from agricultural activities. Hence abatement measures are urgently needed in this domain. read more

The Umweltbundesamt

For our environment