Why in news
Biotechnologists at the Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University (GGU) in New Delhi have discovered a wide variation among popular varieties of rice in India in their ability to use nitrogen
This knowledge can be used to develop newer varieties that use less nitrogen and are high-yielding,
Thus slashing expenditure on imported fertilizers and reducing nitrogen-linked pollution.
Nitrogen Use Efficiency (NUE)
It is used to describe the efficiency of a plant in using applied or fixed nitrogen for biomass production.
It is further defined as the ratio between crop yield and the amount of nitrogen absorbed from the soil through roots or from the atmosphere through fixation by bacteria.
NUE in cereals, particularly rice, is a critical factor in agricultural sustainability
It indicates the efficiency of nitrogen use in crop production, affecting both yield and environmental impact.
Crops with high NUE convert a higher proportion of available nitrogen into yield, reducing waste.
Poor NUE wastes Nitrogen fertilisers worth Rs 1 lakh crore a year in India and over USD 170 billion per year globally.
Nitrogen fertilisers are the main source of nitrous oxide and ammonia pollution of air and nitrate/ammonium pollution of water, affecting our health, biodiversity, and climate change
India is the world’s second-largest source of nitrous oxide (N2O)
In 2020, nearly 11% of such global man made emissions were from India, next only to China (16%).
The major source of these emissions is fertiliser usage
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