Hungarian Researchers Have Shown That, in the Face of Climate Change, What We Use to Fertilise Our Crops Really Does Matter

Human activity has multiplied the atmospheric concentrations of the main greenhouse gases – carbon dioxide (CO₂), nitrous oxide (N₂O) and methane (CH₄) – since the Industrial Revolution. This has led to the increasingly severe climate change we are experiencing today. Alongside industry, agriculture is one of the largest human-induced sources of greenhouse gases, with emissions from crop production making up a significant share. This is why studying nutrient management methods is of particular importance for tackling climate change, while also ensuring stable crop yields for food security.

In a long-term field trial launched in 1955 and still running today at the HUN-REN Agricultural Research Centre in Martonvásár, researchers from the HUN-REN Institute for Soil Science investigated how mineral fertilisation, organic fertilisation, and their combination affect the physical and chemical properties of chernozem soils, the emissions of CO₂, N₂O and CH₄, as well as crop yields.

They found that organic fertilisation produced the highest CO₂ emissions but the lowest N₂O emissions, whereas plots treated with mineral fertiliser consistently showed markedly high N₂O emissions. These differences can be explained by the distinct soil environments created by different types of fertiliser. Neither form of fertilisation produced significant CH₄ emissions.

Although combined fertilisation (mineral + organic) led to greater overall greenhouse gas emissions, it also resulted in the highest maize yields. Taking the system as a whole, this suggests that the combined approach may be the most effective method for managing chernozem soils.

The study was published in the journal Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment.