Spatial and temporal patterns of nutrients and their environmental impacts from the agriculture sector in India

Since the launch of the Green Revolution (GR) in Indian agriculture in the 1960s, Indian food production has successfully become self-sufficient but this has also led to increasing soil nitrogen (N) surpluses and various negative environmental impacts, such as NH3 emissions. Using the IMAGE Global Nutrient Model, this study explores the development of food production, soil N surpluses and associated NH3 emissions in India during the GR; the use of subnational data for compiling spatially explicit maps of N inputs (N fertilizers, manure N, biological N fixation, atmospheric deposition) and outputs (crop harvest, grazing) was compared with results using country-scale data. The results show that in the period 1960–2010 food production growth was dramatic (374%), particularly in the region of the GR states (Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh). This production increase was primarily based on spectacular increases in crop yields and N inputs. However, due to slowly changing nutrient use efficiency, N surpluses and associated NH3 emissions increased rapidly, with hotspots especially in the GR states. Maps using data at subnational scale yield a better representation of spatial heterogeneities of the soil N surpluses, emissions and environmental impacts than maps based on country data. This is beneficial for effect calculations, as the location of negative environmental side effects strongly depends on the location of soil N and P surpluses.