Targeted farming strategies could significantly reduce global nitrogen pollution and boost crop yields

Nature · Published 2 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: By synthesizing 1,521 field observations from around the world, researchers found that implementing a specific set of 11 farming measures could reduce nitrogen runoff and emissions by 30–70%. This approach could also increase crop yields by 10–30% and improve nitrogen use efficiency by 10–80%.

Managing pollution from millions of individual farms is difficult due to high costs and limited technical knowledge. The study models how adopting these measures globally could reduce nitrogen pollution by 32% and fertilizer use by 21% compared to 2015 levels. While the findings suggest a massive societal benefit of roughly 476 billion USD, the results are based on a synthesis of existing field data and projections for a specific base year.

Why it matters: A coordinated shift in farming practices could simultaneously protect the environment and increase food production at a net economic gain.

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