UK - China Virtual Joint Centre for Improved Nitrogen Agronomy (CINAG)

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UK-China Virtual Joint Centre for Improved Nitrogen Agronomy (CINAG)Despite making great progress, China still needs to increase agricultural production to feed its growing population with its increasing expectations while overcoming the considerable environmental problems that industrial and agricultural development has brought with it such as air and water pollution and soil acidification. Currently the three main cereal crops (wheat, maize and rice) use only 33% of the nitrogen fertiliser applied, and less than 40% of the nutrients in recyclable organic 'wastes' such as livestock manure are returned to agriculture. China Agricultural University (CAU), the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) have developed innovative and successful ways of working with farmers to improve the situation, increasing yields of winter wheat and summer maize by 35% and reducing nitrogen fertiliser use by 20%. However, the Chinese Government has set the goal of increasing yields with zero increases in chemical inputs by the year 2020.Rothamsted Research and its partners in this proposal, the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH) and Bangor University (BU), have worked with CAU, CAAS and CAS for over 10 years, producing research into agriculture and the environment that has been published in the very best journals such as 'Nature' and 'Science' but also used by Chinese farmers through such mechanisms as a Chinese fertiliser recommendations system and farmer field schools. We propose to increase our UK-China collaborative research through a Virtual Joint Centre in Nitrogen Agronomy that would:1. Carry out joint research projects, in particular using novel 'Farm Platforms' that will allow us to develop economically and environmentally sustainable farm systems through research at the farm level.2. Exchange staff and students for laboratory and field work, with a strong focus on UK-to-China movements and for periods of 1-3 months, e.g. summer student visits from the UK to China to work on the new CAU Cropping Farm Platform.3. Hold joint conferences and meetings, with public participation.4. Share data management, publications and practical work with farmers in China and the UK.We will develop novel metagenomic-based indicators of N use efficiency and soil quality, use these indicators, and other emerging knowledge, to test and develop farm systems that permit the sustainable intensification of (especially Chinese) agriculture, and take these developments to Chinese farmers. We will achieve this through four Work Packages: improved fundamental understanding of N cycling; harnessing novel N technologies; improved agronomic practices; predictive capacity and knowledge exchangeThe Centre will build on previous collaborations such as China Partnering Awards and joint projects between the partners such as 'Sino-United Kingdom Low Carbon Agriculture' project (Grant FCO-C02/62.1001), 2008-2011, funded jointly by the UK FCO and the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture and an existing VJC with CAAS: The 'Centre for the Sustainable Intensification of Agriculture' (CSIA) and closely link to similar international initiatives such as EU 'N Expert Panel', utilising the Panel's approaches for expressing NUE at (1) the farm level and (2) through the food chain in order to compare systems and regions and as a stimulus to use N more efficiently. The Centre will translate its research into practice in China through the existing and very 'Science and Technology Backyard (STB)' programme, managed by our partners at CAU, CAAS and the Hebei Institute of Agricultural Sciences, and linked to Chinese local government extension agencies, fertiliser companies and farmers.