Uk-china nitrogen research centre gets £7m kick start - farmers weekly

© Tim Scrivener A multi-million pound research centre for UK and Chinese scientists to work together on tackling the issues of nitrogen use and pollution from agriculture has been announced.

The £7m centre will be led by the University of Aberdeen with partners from the University of Cambridge, Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC), Adas and the University of East Anglia, as well as

nine leading partner institutions from China. Named “N-Circle” to emphasise the focus on recycling nitrogen resources and closing the nitrogen cycle, the research facility is set to receive

almost £3m from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and the Newton Fund, plus over £4m from sources in China. See also: Top-up soil P and K after bumper

harvest to avoid yield penalties The centre will be led by Professor Pete Smith of the Institute of Biological and Environmental Sciences at the University of Aberdeen. He said: “Nitrogen is

used as a fertiliser to improve agricultural productivity, but pollution from overuse or misuse of nitrogen causes issues for soil, water and air quality, as well as being a major cause of

climate change. It is therefore essential to tackle nitrogen inputs, transfers and losses. “China uses more nitrogen fertilisers than any other country in the world, so is a critical region

to tackle the nitrogen problem. “Europe still has room for improvement but has successfully reduced nitrogen pollution over the last three decades so, with our Chinese partners, we will

bring this good agricultural practice to China, and together will enhance the latest scientific understanding to develop innovative solutions for improved nitrogen use efficiency on both

continents.”