Nitrogenous fertilizers: impact on environment sustainability, mitigation strategies, and challenges

The world has changed revolutionary for the last few decades owing to the surge in population. A consequence of this exponential increase in population is the high demand for food, water, and energy resources. The application of nitrogenous fertilizers is one of the solutions to accomplish the pressure of food security that the world has already seen in the second half of the century. However, the excessive use of chemical nitrogenous fertilizers has a negative impact on all the segments of the environment, namely soil, water, and air. Environment sustainability is at risk because of the loss of biodiversity in soil and water due to nitrogen pollution. The intense application of these fertilizers also affected the health of humans and livestock. Several strategies have been employed to mitigate the damaging impact of nitrogenous fertilizers. For example, the use of organic manure, compost, slow-release fertilizers or controlled-release fertilizers, and nano-enabled fertilizers is being promoted. Enhancing nitrogen assimilation of crops provides another solution to reduce the excessive use of chemical fertilizers. Although adopting these strategies faces some challenges, such as food security, lack of latest information on agricultural developments, and income of small-scale farmers. At present, the world has arrived at a situation to rethink, and the ‘need’ for nitrogenous fertilizers should be changed into ‘need to replace’ to preserve environmental sustainability.