After the 1992 Common Agricultural Policy Reform, the idea of introducing cross-compliance into the European Union agricultural policy has become more and more popular. Cross-compliance can be defined as making income support conditional on farmers conforming to environmental regulations and...

Process-based computer simulation models are often used as reasoning support tools to integrate the complex processes involved in the soil-plant-atmosphere system. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the performance of the SWB-Sci model as a reasoning support tool for sludge management...

A flexible and replicable approach for the appraisal of the cost-effectiveness of various policy instruments for the regulation of nonpoint pollution from heterogeneous farms is presented. The framework is employed to evaluate three regulatory instruments for achieving reductions in nitrate...

Much of the NO3 in the riverine waters of the upper Mississippi River basin in the United States originates from agricultural land used for corn (Zea mays L.) and soybean (Glycine max [L.] Merr.) production. Cover crops grown between maturity and planting of these crops are one approach for...

Using chlorophyll meters, crop sensors, or aerial photography to fine-tune sidedress N application rates have been proposed for optimizing and perhaps reducing overall N fertilizer use on corn (Zea mays L.) and thereby improving water quality by reducing NO3 losses to surface and ground waters....

Adoption of high input irrigation management systems for South Australian horticultural crops seeks to provide greater control over timing of irrigation and fertilizer applications. The HYDRUS 2D/3D model was used to simulate water movement in the soil under an orange tree planted in a field...

The EU-Rotate_N simulation model was evaluated with tomato grown in Mediterranean greenhouses to simulate (i) dry matter production (DMP), (ii) crop N uptake, (iii) marketable fresh yield, (iv) ETc, (v) drainage, (vi) NO3− leaching, and (vii) soil water and mineral N dynamics. Crops were grown...

Inappropriate soil, water and fertilizer management in irrigated agriculture can result in environmental problems, including groundwater pollution with nitrates. Furrow irrigation is widely used around the world and is considered as a major source of nitrate leaching. Improved soil, water and...