Nitrate and nitrite are two ions largely diffused in the environment because they take part in the nitrogen cycle. Moreover, a great part of atmospheric nitrogen may be oxidized to nitrite and nitrate by microorganisms in plants, soil or water. The more stable form of oxidized nitrogen is nitrate ion, but, through microbial activity, it can be reduced to nitrite ion which is more chemically reactive. Nitrate and its salts are widely used, especially as inorganic fertilizers, and for many other purposes such as oxidizing agents, explosives, in the chemical industry and as food preservatives. This book discusses the agricultural uses, management practices and environmental effects of nitrogen fertilizers.

Nitrogen is an essential element for plant growth and development and a key agricultural input-but in excess it can lead to a host of problems for human and ecological health. Across the globe, distribution of fertilizer nitrogen is very uneven, with some areas subject to nitrogen pollution and others suffering from reduced soil fertility, diminished crop production, and other consequences of inadequate supply. Agriculture and the Nitrogen Cycle provides a global assessment of the role of nitrogen fertilizer in the nitrogen cycle. The focus of the book is regional, emphasizing the need to maintain food and fiber production while minimizing environmental impacts where fertilizer is abundant, and the need to enhance fertilizer utilization in systems where nitrogen is limited. The book is derived from a workshop held by the Scientific Committee on Problems of the Environment (SCOPE) in Kampala, Uganda, that brought together the world's leading scientists to examine and discuss the nitrogen cycle and related problems. It contains an overview chapter that summarizes the group's findings, four chapters on cross-cutting issues, and thirteen background chapters. The book offers a unique synthesis and provides an up-to-date, broad perspective on the issues of nitrogen fertilizer in food production and the interaction of nitrogen and the environment.

This award-winning publication gives the most in-depth information available on nitrogen fertilization of walnut orchards. Discusses the variables that make nitrogen management of each orchard a unique challenge; and provides the tools that let you manage your orchard efficiently and economically. Chapters discuss concepts of fertilization, nitrogen budgeting, choosing and using nitrogen fertilizers, and fertilizing young trees.

Dr. Smil is the world's authority on nitrogenous fertilizer. The industrial synthesis of ammonia from nitrogen and hydrogen has been of greater fundamental importance to the modern world than the invention of the airplane, nuclear energy, space flight, or television. The expansion of the world's population from 1.6 billion people in 1900 to today's six billion would not have been possible without the synthesis of ammonia. In Enriching the Earth, Vaclav Smil begins with a discussion of nitrogen's unique status in the biosphere, its role in crop production, and traditional means of supplying the nutrient. He then looks at various attempts to expand natural nitrogen flows through mineral and synthetic fertilizers. The core of the book is a detailed narrative of the discovery of ammonia synthesis by Fritz Haber—a discovery scientists had sought for over one hundred years—and its commercialization by Carl Bosch and the chemical company BASF. Smil also examines the emergence of the large-scale nitrogen fertilizer industry and analyzes the extent of global dependence on the Haber-Bosch process and its biospheric consequences. Finally, it looks at the role of nitrogen in civilization and, in a sad coda, describes the lives of Fritz Haber and Carl Bosch after the discovery of ammonia synthesis.