Fertilizers and nitrate pollution of surface and ground water: an increasingly pervasive global problem

Summary

Abstract Nitrate pollution of ground and surface water bodies all over the world is generally linked with continually increasing global fertilizer nitrogen (N) use. But after 1990, with more fertilizer N consumption in developing countries especially in East and South Asia than in the industrialized nations in North America and Europe, nitrate pollution of freshwaters is now increasingly becoming a pervasive global problem. In this review it has been attempted to review the research information generated during the last two decades from all over the world on different aspects of nitrate pollution of natural water bodies. It is now evident that not more than 50% of the fertilizer N is directly used by the crops to which it is applied. While a small portion may directly leach down and may re