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In the period 1992–2019 nitrogen surplus in Slovenian agriculture decreased. Trend analysis for this period shows that gross nitrogen surplus decreased on average by 1.6 kg N/ha per year or by 50%, and the net surplus by 1.5 kg N/ha per year or by 81%. The lower surplus was mainly due to a 46% increase in nitrogen removal by crops and a 4% decrease in nitrogen input per hectare of utilized agricultural area. A lower excess of nitrogen indicates better nitrogen management in agriculture and consequently a reduction in emissions of nitrogen compounds into the environment. The nitrogen surplus in a particular year is significantly influenced by weather conditions. In dry years, the nitrogen balance surpluses are usually higher due to lower crop yields. In the period 2006–2015, Slovenia showed a slightly higher average gross balance nitrogen surplus (54 kg N/ha) than the average of the EU Member States (50 kg N/ha).

Definition

According to the OECD-Eurostat methodology (2013), the nitrogen (N) budget in agriculture represents the difference between the input of N on agricultural land and the output of N from agricultural land with crop yields. We distinguish between gross and net nitrogen budget.

Gross nitrogen surplus is the difference between total input and output of nitrogen. Gross nitrogen input is represented by the following sources: N excreted by farm animals, N in mineral fertilizers, biological fixation of N by legumes, deposition of atmospheric N, N from other organic fertilizers (composts, digestates, sewage sludges ...) and N from seeds and planting material. Output represents nitrogen uptake of harvested crops.

The net nitrogen surplus refers mainly to the available N for crop growth (net input). Net nitrogen surplus is calculated by subtracting N that is released into the atmosphere (from animal houses, manure stores, during grazing, during and as a result of fertilising with mineral, animal and other organic fertilisers, during the decomposition of crop residues in soil and as a result of cultivation of histosols) from the gross nitrogen budget. This is N that is released into the atmosphere through emissions of ammonia (NH₃) nitrous oxide (N₂O) and nitrogen oxides (NO_X).

The gross and net nitrogen surpluses were expressed in tonnes N at the national level and in kilograms N per hectare of utilized agricultural area. Data for the period 1992–2019 are presented. The indicator also presents the structure of input and output of N and comparison with EU countries (EU-28).

Charts

Figure KM22-1: Structure of nitrogen inpuut on agricultural land in Slovenia in the period 1992–2019

Sources:

AIS, 2021

Show data


	Total N input [t N]	Livestock manure [t N]	Mineral fertilisers [t N]	Atmospheric deposition [t N]	Biological fixation [t N]	Seeds and seedlings [t N]	Other organic fertilisers [t N]	Livestock manure [%]	Mineral fertilisers [%]	Atmospheric deposition [%]	Biological fixation [%]	Seeds and seedlings [%]	Other organic fertilisers [%]
1992	91272.13	41745.78	38938	8338.07	1781.20	338.51	130.56	45.74	42.66	9.14	1.95	0.37	0.14
1993	82953.37	39052.39	33376	8291.40	1763.63	339.39	130.56	47.08	40.23	10.00	2.13	0.41	0.16
1994	82969.43	38855.61	33944	8063.79	1653.28	322.19	130.56	46.83	40.91	9.72	1.99	0.39	0.16
1995	82010.14	39665.54	32235	7874.48	1778.12	326.44	130.56	48.37	39.31	9.60	2.17	0.40	0.16
1996	79387.22	38317.80	31296	7702.10	1637.35	311.21	122.76	48.27	39.42	9.70	2.06	0.39	0.15
1997	81032.08	37570.77	33999	7414.07	1638.40	294.88	114.96	46.37	41.96	9.15	2.02	0.36	0.14
1998	82326.66	38209.25	34801	7363.77	1546.68	298.80	107.16	46.41	42.27	8.94	1.88	0.36	0.13
1999	82609.85	38941.21	34380	7478.87	1432.53	291.53	85.71	47.14	41.62	9.05	1.73	0.35	0.10
2000	84411.80	40836.41	34159	7634.40	1409.19	308.54	64.26	48.38	40.47	9.04	1.67	0.37	0.08
2001	84052.50	40018.54	34765	7644.36	1241.77	310.77	72.06	47.61	41.36	9.09	1.48	0.37	0.09
2002	84696.03	42030.20	33412	7581.93	1282.95	293.49	95.46	49.62	39.45	8.95	1.51	0.35	0.11
2003	82938.44	39085.23	34501	7645.64	1339.27	296.99	70.31	47.13	41.60	9.22	1.61	0.36	0.08
2004	76875.89	37520.55	30264	7357.80	1381.82	294.25	57.48	48.81	39.37	9.57	1.80	0.38	0.07
2005	76746.89	37899.60	29169	7631.39	1700.85	290.73	55.34	49.38	38.01	9.94	2.22	0.38	0.07
2006	77931.96	38063.22	30383	7354.77	1755.00	306.52	69.46	48.84	38.99	9.44	2.25	0.39	0.09
2007	78844.25	39630.57	29613	7476.99	1733.83	304.92	84.93	50.26	37.56	9.48	2.20	0.39	0.11
2008	72617.88	37867.08	25039	7386.36	1918.61	306.39	100.45	52.15	34.48	10.17	2.64	0.42	0.14
2009	75679.61	37908.59	28202	7027.44	2123.09	302.20	116.29	50.09	37.26	9.29	2.81	0.40	0.15
2010	74290.24	37044.30	27486	7239.80	2085.22	285.47	149.45	49.86	37.00	9.75	2.81	0.38	0.20
2011	72284.49	35804.01	27134	6872.93	2056.13	269.85	147.58	49.53	37.54	9.51	2.84	0.37	0.20
2012	71462.10	35464.15	26300	7194.80	2052.56	287.20	163.41	49.63	36.80	10.07	2.87	0.40	0.23
2013	72081.92	35037.31	27263	7183.32	2141.89	277.16	179.23	48.61	37.82	9.97	2.97	0.38	0.25
2014	74187.45	35719.93	28612	7233.29	2127.83	289.25	205.15	48.15	38.57	9.75	2.87	0.39	0.28
2015	75549.76	36729.31	28319	7152.93	2846.41	290.72	211.38	48.62	37.48	9.47	3.77	0.38	0.28
2016	75425.40	37223.43	27097	7165.07	3397.60	300.21	242.09	49.35	35.93	9.50	4.50	0.40	0.32
2017	74979.22	36822.56	27084	7221.23	3378.67	295.21	177.57	49.11	36.12	9.63	4.51	0.39	0.24
2018	74742.64	36579.87	27293	7159.44	3135.19	287.43	287.71	48.94	36.52	9.58	4.19	0.38	0.38
2019	75077.81	36474.59	28048	7197.33	2848.10	280.00	229.78	48.58	37.36	9.59	3.79	0.37	0.31

Export Table Data

Figure KM22-2: Structure of nitrogen output on agricultural land in Slovenia in the period 1992–2019

Sources:

AIS, 2021

Show data


	Total N output [t N]	Temporary and permanent pasture nett production [t N]	Cereals [t N]	Plants harvested green/Fodder from arable land [t N]	Root crops [t N]	Fruits [t N]	Industrial crops [t N]	Vegetables [t N]	Dried Pulses [t N]	Temporary and permanent pasture nett production [%]	Cereals [%]	Plants harvested green/Fodder from arable land [%]	Root crops [%]	Fruits [%]	Industrial crops [%]	Vegetables [%]	Dried Pulses [%]
1992	28752.00	17811.27	6028.00	2760.09	1060.33	534.73	293.18	242.55	21.86	61.95	20.97	9.60	3.69	1.86	1.02	0.84	0.08
1993	29376.14	16712.21	6762.38	3565.82	1204.01	559.41	277.76	269.78	24.77	56.89	23.02	12.14	4.10	1.90	0.95	0.92	0.08
1994	49789.44	32460.04	8416.82	5815.28	1754.89	621.46	404.81	253.80	62.35	65.19	16.90	11.68	3.52	1.25	0.81	0.51	0.13
1995	46921.32	29760.91	8170.15	6051.23	1834.91	547.24	212.72	273.94	70.23	63.43	17.41	12.90	3.91	1.17	0.45	0.58	0.15
1996	45376.16	28330.24	7762.42	6223.37	1840.71	632.42	250.88	283.87	52.25	62.43	17.11	13.72	4.06	1.39	0.55	0.63	0.12
1997	49428.23	31401.79	8578.90	6673.26	1682.98	575.47	194.19	274.81	46.83	63.53	17.36	13.50	3.40	1.16	0.39	0.56	0.09
1998	49491.84	30783.48	8919.45	6709.22	1922.48	640.83	212.69	261.39	42.30	62.20	18.02	13.56	3.88	1.29	0.43	0.53	0.09
1999	47511.12	30940.35	7557.26	5960.35	2007.07	543.40	184.91	288.39	29.40	65.12	15.91	12.55	4.22	1.14	0.39	0.61	0.06
2000	40831.47	25411.72	7968.03	4673.57	1640.73	716.01	136.72	258.70	25.98	62.24	19.51	11.45	4.02	1.75	0.33	0.63	0.06
2001	40152.38	26073.30	8102.99	3928.52	1101.47	521.24	186.09	211.46	27.30	64.94	20.18	9.78	2.74	1.30	0.46	0.53	0.07
2002	50404.47	32957.61	9754.26	5018.98	1286.05	714.70	390.61	234.05	48.21	65.39	19.35	9.96	2.55	1.42	0.77	0.46	0.10
2003	33416.41	20670.42	6432.20	4189.68	973.80	571.51	352.69	195.82	30.28	61.86	19.25	12.54	2.91	1.71	1.06	0.59	0.09
2004	50951.79	33251.55	9267.40	5722.63	1223.39	777.89	369.94	264.69	74.29	65.26	18.19	11.23	2.40	1.53	0.73	0.52	0.15
2005	54875.43	35890.04	9153.81	7038.79	1256.23	648.93	404.06	281.64	201.95	65.40	16.68	12.83	2.29	1.18	0.74	0.51	0.37
2006	44545.71	28877.24	7933.84	5004.77	1059.66	628.12	422.70	257.53	361.85	64.83	17.81	11.24	2.38	1.41	0.95	0.58	0.81
2007	49106.58	32889.33	8501.95	5440.37	491.76	662.40	697.60	213.28	209.90	66.98	17.31	11.08	1.00	1.35	1.42	0.43	0.43
2008	51120.84	34194.84	9335.78	5702.98	380.35	582.79	517.19	258.25	148.66	66.89	18.26	11.16	0.74	1.14	1.01	0.51	0.29
2009	50252.71	33822.07	8542.06	6006.73	401.02	598.05	528.13	277.41	77.25	67.30	17.00	11.95	0.80	1.19	1.05	0.55	0.15
2010	52784.93	35652.00	9161.24	5929.51	366.59	628.31	776.45	196.73	74.10	67.54	17.36	11.23	0.69	1.19	1.47	0.37	0.14
2011	49663.60	31718.72	9726.92	6096.05	344.98	639.95	750.44	249.88	136.65	63.87	19.59	12.27	0.69	1.29	1.51	0.50	0.28
2012	44216.07	27622.23	9440.84	5378.97	290.22	460.34	742.83	219.16	61.47	62.47	21.35	12.17	0.66	1.04	1.68	0.50	0.14
2013	39155.52	25371.32	7449.09	4634.03	235.08	561.54	642.60	224.71	37.15	64.80	19.02	11.83	0.60	1.43	1.64	0.57	0.09
2014	53897.79	34292.96	10456.78	7037.70	339.59	538.10	891.67	278.67	62.33	63.63	19.40	13.06	0.63	1.00	1.65	0.52	0.12
2015	54144.92	34536.75	10039.80	7578.39	319.53	655.67	638.67	305.15	70.96	63.79	18.54	14.00	0.59	1.21	1.18	0.56	0.13
2016	55437.10	34941.88	10275.84	8025.98	300.30	462.25	991.71	330.04	109.11	63.03	18.54	14.48	0.54	0.83	1.79	0.60	0.20
2017	43897.50	26502.39	8871.90	6573.33	278.18	344.97	931.31	295.70	99.71	60.37	20.21	14.97	0.63	0.79	2.12	0.67	0.23
2018	54011.68	34331.22	9483.94	7932.26	276.93	775.88	799.57	313.99	97.90	63.56	17.56	14.69	0.51	1.44	1.48	0.58	0.18
2019	54342.28	34525.00	10259.24	7589.81	265.36	489.93	749.65	364.32	98.98	63.53	18.88	13.97	0.49	0.90	1.38	0.67	0.18

Export Table Data

Figure KM22-3: Nitrogen budget in Slovenian agriculture for the period 1992–2019

Sources:

AIS, 2021

Show data


	Gross budget [t N]	Emissions [t N]	Nett budget [t N]	UAA [1000 ha]	Gross budget [kg N/ha]	Emissions [kg N/ha]	Nett budget [kg N/ha]
1992	62520.13	19273.16	43246.97	555.87	112.47	34.67	77.80
1993	53577.23	17832.79	35744.45	552.76	96.93	32.26	64.67
1994	33179.98	17775.87	15404.12	537.59	61.72	33.07	28.65
1995	35088.83	17806.07	17282.76	524.97	66.84	33.92	32.92
1996	34011.06	17025.60	16985.46	513.47	66.24	33.16	33.08
1997	31603.85	16988.00	14615.85	494.27	63.94	34.37	29.57
1998	32834.83	17229.01	15605.81	490.92	66.88	35.10	31.79
1999	35098.72	17193.25	17905.47	498.59	70.40	34.48	35.91
2000	43580.34	17854.63	25725.71	508.96	85.63	35.08	50.55
2001	43900.12	17628.80	26271.31	509.62	86.14	34.59	51.55
2002	34291.56	18450.23	15841.33	505.46	67.84	36.50	31.34
2003	49522.03	17332.46	32189.56	509.71	97.16	34.00	63.15
2004	25924.11	16345.50	9578.61	490.52	52.85	33.32	19.53
2005	21871.47	16469.23	5402.23	508.76	42.99	32.37	10.62
2006	33386.25	16603.02	16783.23	490.32	68.09	33.86	34.23
2007	29737.66	17080.53	12657.13	498.47	59.66	34.27	25.39
2008	21497.04	16006.72	5490.32	492.42	43.66	32.51	11.15
2009	25426.90	16492.30	8934.61	468.50	54.27	35.20	19.07
2010	21505.31	15985.37	5519.94	482.65	44.56	33.12	11.44
2011	22620.89	15378.78	7242.12	458.20	49.37	33.56	15.81
2012	27246.03	15328.05	11917.99	479.65	56.80	31.96	24.85
2013	32926.40	15125.80	17800.60	478.89	68.76	31.59	37.17
2014	20289.66	15376.02	4913.64	482.22	42.08	31.89	10.19
2015	21404.84	15631.28	5773.56	476.86	44.89	32.78	12.11
2016	19988.29	15801.32	4186.97	477.67	41.85	33.08	8.77
2017	31081.73	15548.12	15533.60	481.42	64.56	32.30	32.27
2018	20730.96	15588.70	5142.26	477.30	43.43	32.66	10.77
2019	20735.53	15382.62	5352.91	479.82	43.22	32.06	11.16

Export Table Data

Figure KM22-4: Utilization efficiency of added nitrogen on agricultural land (% of input)

Sources:

AIS, 2021

Show data


	Input [kg N/ha]	Output [kg N/ha]	Efficiency of N [%]
1992	91272.13	28752.00	31.50
1993	82953.37	29376.14	35.41
1994	82969.43	49789.44	60.01
1995	82010.14	46921.32	57.21
1996	79387.22	45376.16	57.16
1997	81032.08	49428.23	61.00
1998	82326.66	49491.84	60.12
1999	82609.85	47511.12	57.51
2000	84411.80	40831.47	48.37
2001	84052.50	40152.38	47.77
2002	84696.03	50404.47	59.51
2003	82938.44	33416.41	40.29
2004	76875.89	50951.79	66.28
2005	76746.89	54875.43	71.50
2006	77931.96	44545.71	57.16
2007	78844.25	49106.58	62.28
2008	72617.88	51120.84	70.40
2009	75679.61	50252.71	66.40
2010	74290.24	52784.93	71.05
2011	72284.49	49663.60	68.71
2012	71462.10	44216.07	61.87
2013	72081.92	39155.52	54.32
2014	74187.45	53897.79	72.65
2015	75549.76	54144.92	71.67
2016	75425.40	55437.10	73.50
2017	74979.22	43897.50	58.55
2018	74742.64	54011.68	72.26
2019	75077.81	54342.28	72.38

Export Table Data

Figure KM22-5: Gross nitrogen budget in the Member States of the European Union in the period 2006–2015

Sources:

Eurostat, 2019

Show data


	2006 [kg N/ha]	2007 [kg N/ha]	2008 [kg N/ha]	2009 [kg N/ha]	2010 [kg N/ha]	2011 [kg N/ha]	2012 [kg N/ha]	2013 [kg N/ha]	2014 [kg N/ha]	2015 [kg N/ha]	2006-2015 [kg N/ha]
Romania	13	32	14	18	-1	-11	16	4	-1	9	9.30
Bulgaria	24	36	16	20	14	12	24	16	28	28	21.80
Latvia	21	20	17	22	29	28	24	28	28	28	24.50
Estonia	32	22	36	25	31	32	28	23	22	22	27.30
Austria	26	31	30	21	26	28	30	41	30	41	30.40
Spain	36	34	27	31	35	29	34	29	39	39	33.30
Hungary	27	47	20	26	38	31	42	38	27	39	33.50
Lithuania	50	28	34	35	44	40	29	31	25	25	34.10
Slovakia	40	50	29	29	46	32	41	41	19	38	36.50
Ireland	55	47	27	29	34	23	29	44	40	42	37
Portugal	28	43	33	36	41	39	43	37	42	41	38.30
Sweden	50	45	51	30	42	42	32	35	31	32	39
France	46	52	52	39	40	52	40	45	45	42	45.30
Finland	56	43	51	38	57	50	48	47	48	49	48.70
European Union	56	56	51	46	49	49	50	49	47	51	50.40
Poland	62	52	57	48	52	53	48	55	40	48	51.50
Slovenia	69	60	45	55	46	50	57	69	43	45	53.90
Greece	79	88	69	65	71	52	50	56	59	59	64.80
Italy	74	68	65	60	59	63	80	70	66	66	67.10
Czech Republic	82	86	80	56	67	79	88	76	63	98	77.50
Germany	94	79	84	65	78	89	75	79	66	82	79.10
Croatia	108	121	115	62	81	93	86	44	48	60	81.80
United Kingdom	87	88	82	84	90	85	87	88	85	83	85.90
Denmark	102	105	106	87	90	88	83	87	80	80	90.80
Luxembourg	129	123	122	120	127	138	125	127	129	129	126.90
Belgium	152	145	124	129	142	143	143	138	132	132	138
Malta	232	244	215	200	169	132	141	147	147	147	177.40
Netherlands	213	198	175	172	173	172	169	169	160	189	179
Cyprus	153	159	201	178	191	199	184	179	194	194	183.20

Export Table Data

Goals

Reducing the negative impacts of agriculture on water, soil and air
Balanced consumption of nitrogen from mineral fertilisers and livestock manures, gradual increase of the extent of organic farming and prevention of soil loading from point and dispersed sources;
To fertilise plants in a way that makes the best use of nutrients without those nutrients being emitted into groundwater and the atmosphere;
To reduce and prevent further pollution of waters by nitrates from agricultural production.

Comment

The main sources of nitrogen input in agriculture are livestock manures (48%) and mineral fertilizers (39%). Atmospheric deposition contributes 9% of nitrogen input, biological fixation by legumes 3%, seeds and seedlings 0.4% and other organic fertilizers 0.2%. In the period 1992 and 2019, total nitrogen input decreased by 15%. The main reason is a 27% reduction in nitrogen consumption from mineral fertilizers. Nitrogen input from livestock manure decreased by 10%. Due to the reduced areas of utilized agricultural area, the input of atmospheric nitrogen decreased by 12% and the input by seeds and seedlings by 13%. Due to the increased extent of legume production, biological nitrogen fixation increased by 129%. Nitrogen input per hectare of utilized agricultural area decreased by 4%, mainly due to a 17% decrease in nitrogen input from mineral fertilizers per hectare of utilized agricultural area.

In the period 1992–2019, the annual nitrogen output by crops varied from 52 to 116 kg per hectare. The variation was mainly due to weather conditions, as nitrogen output was notably lower in dry years. Nitrogen output per hectare of utilized agricultural area increased by 46% during this period. The main source of nitrogen output was permanent grassland (64%), followed by cereals (18%) and forage crops (12%). Other crops (roots, tubers, fruits, vegetables, legumes and industrial plants) together contributed 5% of total nitrogen output.

In the period 1992–2019 the gross nitrogen surplus varied between 42 and 112 kg per hectare. The highest surpluses (more than 80 kg N/ha) were recorded in the dry years 1992, 1993, 2000, 2001 and 2003, when outputs with crop yields were reduced. The trend analysis clearly revealed that gross nitrogen surplus in the period 1995–2019 was decreasing by 1.6 kg per year or by 50% over the entire period, and net nitrogen surplus was decreasing by 1.5 kg per year or by 81%. The lower nitrogen surplus was mainly due to a 46% increase in nitrogen uptake by crops and a 4% decrease in nitrogen input per hectare of utilized agricultural area. Lower nitrogen budgets indicate better nitrogen management and, consequently, lower emissions of nitrogen compounds into the environment. While 51% of total nitrogen input was taken from agricultural land by crops in the period 1992–2003, the percentage increased to 67% in the period 2004–2019.

In the period 2006-2015, Slovenia had a slightly higher average gross nitrogen budget (54 kg N/ha) than EU Member States (50 kg N/ha). This is, among others, also a consequence of the large percentage of grassland in the structure of agricultural land and the associated livestock production, characterized by extensive emissions of nitrogen compounds into the air.

Methodology

Other sources and literature

EUROPEAN COMMISSION, Eurostat. 2013. Methodology and Handbook Eurostat/OECD. Nutrient Budgets EU 27, Norway, Switzerland

Last modified: 08.04.2021

Author(s): Janez Sušin, Jože Verbič, Agricultural Institute of Slovenia

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[KM22] The Nitrogen Budget in Agriculture

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