School of Mathematics and Science, Hebei GEO University, 136 Huai'an Road, Shijiazhuang, 050031, Hebei, China.
College of Agronomy, State Key Laboratory of Crop Biology, Shandong Agricultural University, Tai'an, 271018, China.
J Environ Manage. 2024 Nov;370:122483. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.122483. Epub 2024 Sep 18.
Intensification of agricultural practices has been pivotal in meeting the nutritional demands of a burgeoning global population. However, the widespread application of nitrogen (N) fertilisers has contributed to environmental pollution. In this study, we quantitatively assessed the role of international crop trade in optimising the productivity of micro-nutrients and its implications for N fertiliser use. Using a comprehensive dataset spanning from 1961 to 2019, we analysed the trade flows of seven key micro-nutrients-vitamin C (VC), vitamin B3 (VB3), vitamin B6 (VB6), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), iron (Fe), and zinc (Zn)-embedded in agricultural products. We developed a novel framework to evaluate trade optimality and functionality based on the concentration-weighted productivity of micro-nutrients per kilogram of N fertiliser. Our findings reveal that while international trade has generally contributed to enhancing micro-nutrient productivity per unit of N fertiliser, trade optimality has shown a decreasing trend. High-productivity countries tend to export less relative to their potential, whereas countries with lower productivity import a larger share of crops. This decoupling suggests the need to re-evaluate trade policies to ensure that they align with sustainable agricultural practices and environmental conservation goals. We also identified potential savings in N fertiliser use through optimised trade practices, with estimated savings of 15-45 Tg of N per year. This could mitigate the negative agricultural impact and demonstrates the significant role that trade can play in achieving global sustainability targets. Overall, our research underscores the importance of aligning international crop trade with sustainable N management strategies to enhance micro-nutrient availability, improve environmental outcomes, and contribute to global efforts in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
农业集约化是满足全球人口不断增长的营养需求的关键。然而，广泛应用氮肥导致了环境污染。在这项研究中，我们定量评估了国际作物贸易在优化微量营养素生产力方面的作用及其对氮肥使用的影响。我们使用了一个涵盖 1961 年至 2019 年的综合数据集，分析了七种关键微量营养素（维生素 C [VC]、维生素 B3 [VB3]、维生素 B6 [VB6]、钙 [Ca]、镁 [Mg]、铁 [Fe] 和锌 [Zn]）嵌入农产品中的贸易流动。我们开发了一种新的框架，基于每公斤氮肥的微量营养素加权生产力来评估贸易的最优性和功能。我们的研究结果表明，虽然国际贸易总体上有助于提高每单位氮肥的微量营养素生产力，但贸易最优性呈下降趋势。高生产力国家的出口相对潜力减少，而生产力较低的国家进口更多的作物。这种脱钩表明需要重新评估贸易政策，以确保其与可持续农业实践和环境保护目标保持一致。我们还通过优化贸易实践发现了氮肥使用方面的潜在节省，估计每年可节省 15-45 吨氮。这可以减轻农业的负面影响，并展示了贸易在实现全球可持续性目标方面可以发挥的重要作用。总的来说，我们的研究强调了将国际作物贸易与可持续的氮管理战略相结合的重要性，以提高微量营养素的可利用性，改善环境结果，并为实现可持续发展目标做出全球贡献。
