Source
doi:10.1016/j.agwat.2020.106316 — original publication (opens in a new tab; the file is not redistributed)
Tei et al. (2020) — Nitrogen management of vegetable crops
The general vegetable-N-management reference — but it does NOT supply a mixed-vegetable N-demand figure
Peer-reviewed qualitative review (Agricultural Water Management 240:106316, DOI 10.1016/j.agwat.2020.106316; Wageningen OA copy). Has no crop-specific N-rate table; it defers per-crop N rates to look-up tables (Feller & Fink 2002 Nmin target values, Acta Hortic. 571; AHDB RB209 §6). Its only quantitative vegetable-N anchor is crop-residue N (25–300 kg N/ha). The “151 kg N/ha” in this paper is soil N-mineralization potential, NOT crop demand — do not cite it for a vegetable N-demand figure. International (EU) proxy, no NZ value.
Summary
A review, in Agricultural Water Management, of how nitrogen is managed in field-vegetable production and how to raise fertiliser-use efficiency while cutting N losses (chiefly nitrate leaching) to surface and groundwater. Its thesis: because of vegetables’ high added value, N is routinely applied in excess of crop demand, and vegetables have low N-use efficiency (short growing season, superficial rooting, low fertiliser-N recovery), so the excess leaches. It walks through the full soil-crop N balance (soil mineral N at planting, mineralization from soil organic matter and from added organic materials/residues, crop uptake, losses) and the decision-support tools built on it (Nmin/KNS/N-Expert systems, look-up tables, RB209/PLANET/EU-Rotate). For Neobiome it is the general vegetable-N-management reference and the nutrient-loop (residue-N recycling) evidence — but note the corrections below: it is qualitative, gives no single mixed-vegetable N-demand rate, and its “151” figure is soil mineralization potential, not crop demand.
Key claims
- claim: "Vegetable crops have a relatively low nitrogen-use efficiency versus arable crops (short growing season, superficial rooting, low fertiliser-N recovery), so N applied 'in excess of actual crop demand' plus excessive irrigation drives high nitrate concentrations in water leaving the root zone — the review's central problem. In 2014-15 vegetables were 7.4% of the 103 Mt global fertiliser-N consumption (EU-28 veg N = 2.3% of ~11 Mt N) while occupying only ~1.2% of EU area — a disproportionate N intensity per hectare. The remedy is integrated, balance-sheet N management (soil-mineral-N-at-planting accounting, look-up tables, and Nmin/KNS/N-Expert decision-support such as RB209, PLANET, EU-Rotate)."
source_location: "Abstract; Introduction (p.1, low NUE / nitrate leaching / fertiliser-consumption shares); §2 'Drawing up the N balance', §2.7 tools (Nmin/KNS/N-Expert, RB209/PLANET/EU-Rotate)"
- claim: "Vegetable crops have a generally high but strongly SPECIES-SPECIFIC N demand — the review gives NO single mixed-vegetable N-demand rate. 'Despite the high N demand of most vegetable crops (Feller and Fink, 2002; Congreves and Van Eerd, 2015), they can only take up a fraction of the soil mineral N, i.e. the Nitrogen Uptake Efficiency (NUpE) is less than 1.' Species-specific critical N dilution curves have been determined per crop (potato, processing tomato, lettuce, cabbage, broccoli/cauliflower, carrot), and 'Crop N demands are often summarized and averaged in look-up tables, based on past agronomic experiments.' Per-crop N-rate/target values are DEFERRED to Feller & Fink (2002) 'Nmin target values for field vegetables' (Acta Hortic. 571) and AHDB (2020) Nutrient Management Guide RB209 Section 6 (Vegetables and Bulbs) — not tabulated in this paper."
source_location: "p.3 (high N demand + NUpE<1; species-specific critical N dilution curves; look-up tables); References: Feller & Fink 2002 Acta Hortic. 571; AHDB 2020 RB209 §6"
- claim: "The only quantitative vegetable-N anchor in the review is CROP-RESIDUE N, not crop demand: 'The amount of crop residue can vary from 25-30 kg N ha-1 (e.g. spinach, lettuce) to as much as 250-300 kg N ha-1 (e.g. for cabbages)' (Chaves et al. 2007; Agneessens et al. 2014; Congreves & Van Eerd 2015; De Neve 2017; Tempesta et al. 2019). '60-80% of the N in vegetable crop residues is mineralized within the 3 weeks following incorporation in summer or early autumn' (De Neve & Hofman 1996), and under exceptionally warm/moist/aerated conditions over 80% within 9 weeks. Failing to account for residue N leads to excessive N fertilisation and N losses — the closed-loop-nutrient case."
source_location: "§2.3 'N mineralization from added organic materials' (p.2)"
- claim: "The '151 kg N/ha' figure in this paper is SOIL N-MINERALIZATION POTENTIAL, NOT crop N demand: 'The N mineralization potential, that is the maximum amount of N being released from soil under optimum conditions for mineralization by the microbial biomass ... in temperate climates was estimated to be 151 kg N ha-1 (as climate zone median).' The paper adds coarser field estimates — N mineralization under temperate maritime climates ~2-3% of soil organic N (heavy soils low end, sandy high end; De Neve 2017), and 5.5 kg N ha-1 week-1 for the Rhineland-Palatinate (Lorenz et al. 1989). These describe soil N SUPPLY (an input side of the N balance), and must never be read as a vegetable N-DEMAND figure."
source_location: "§2.2 'N mineralization from soil organic matter and N immobilization' (p.2)"Neobiome Intelligence relevance
The general vegetable-N-management reference for D02, and the residue-N nutrient-loop evidence for D02/D03 (closing the food→waste→nutrient loop: crop residues alone return 25–300 kg N/ha, 60–80% plant-available within 3 weeks, so accounting for internally-cycled N is the lever that cuts over-fertilisation and nitrate leaching to water — the same closed-loop-nutrient logic the corpus tracks via digestate LIT_060 and composting).
🔴 Critical correction — this source does NOT support CROP_N_DEMAND_KG_HA["veg"] = 150. It is a qualitative review with no crop-specific N-demand table, and its only “15x kg N/ha”-scale number — 151 kg N/ha — is soil N-mineralization POTENTIAL (a temperate climate-zone median, an N-supply term), not crop N demand. The correct sources for a per-crop or crop-set N-demand figure are the ones Tei defers to: AHDB RB209 §6 (Vegetables and Bulbs) and Feller & Fink (2002) Nmin target values for field vegetables (Acta Hortic. 571) — or the veg N-demand should be carried as an explicit range, since Tei’s own point is that vegetable N demand is highly species-specific (spinach/lettuce vs cabbage differ by an order of magnitude, mirrored in their residue N of 25–30 vs 250–300 kg N/ha). Tei 2020 stays in the corpus as the N-management framing + residue-N nutrient-loop reference only.
⚠ International (EU) review — transferable proxy, no NZ value. Same handling convention as LIT_060 (UK digestate N): the mechanism / management logic transfers to a NZ community food system; the figures are EU-derived and are not an NZ calibration.
Notes
Filed PDF (open access, Wageningen University & Research institutional repository, Amendment Taverne / Article 25fa; original Elsevier, Agricultural Water Management 240 (2020) 106316). Downloaded directly from the repository. data_quality high (peer-reviewed review; the residue-N range and the 151 mineralization figure are each corroborated by multiple primaries cited within — Chaves 2007, Agneessens 2014, Congreves & Van Eerd 2015, De Neve 2017, Tempesta 2019). Key figures verified against the PDF by pdftotext -layout (residue N 25–300 kg N/ha at line 134–135; the 151 mineralization potential at line 117).
Connections
Links to
Sources (1): LIT_060
Referenced by
EDT domains (2): D02: Smart Food Systems & Agriculture · D03: Water, Waste & Circular Systems