Newton-Bhabha Virtual Centre on Nitrogen Efficiency of Whole-cropping Systems for improved performance and resilience in agriculture (NEWS India-UK)

优化农业氮素利用的需求正在迅速成为一项关键的全球挑战，国际合作可以在其中发挥变革作用。印度-英国虚拟联合中心建立在英国和印度N研究人员现有的全球领导地位基础上，开发和测试优化N管理的创新方法，帮助实现粮食安全目标，同时减少多种环境威胁。印度-英国新闻反映了通过印度和英国之间的双边合作应用N管理机会的必要性。这包括提高作物生物氮利用率（NUE），使用改良的遗传物质帮助生物化学过程更有效，以及农艺NUE，它考虑与N投入相比，达到收获产品的N量，这可以通过更好的田间和肥料管理实践来改善。“新闻”代表整个种植系统的氮效率，反映了如果要实现全部效益，就需要这两种策略。然而，NEWS印度-英国还采取了两个重要的进一步措施。首先，它适用于生物和农艺NUE进展的结果在农场规模。这里的关键是需要回收所有可用的氮源（如粪肥，作物残留物，大气投入和生物固氮），并审查限制在农场规模采用可用方法的障碍。其次，它将成果扩大到全国范围。通过集中精力为印度建立一个完整的农业氮预算，该方法将指出改进的主要机会。这将整合植物和农艺NUE战略，农场规模选择和国家战略（包括氮政策，空间优化等），可用于改善国家层面的氮管理，明确估计整体效益。这将使前瞻性或“情景”，探索“如果”的情况下，如何在未来更好地管理氮，以及它如何有助于粮食和能源安全，提高农业对气候变化的适应能力，减少水，空气和土壤污染的影响。虚拟中心有意结合科学学科交叉施肥的想法，并开发更多的联合解决方案。对自然遗传变异的分析，加上转基因技术提供的机会，将有助于提高植物水平NUE的过程研究。在实地规模上，该项目将量化全部氮预算，测量所有主要的氮排放到空气和水中，并展示如何将NUE的改善转化为减少氮污染和温室气体排放。田间规模还将汇集各种选择，以了解遗传和农艺改良的结合如何最大限度地提高氮素管理的净效益，以提高生产力和气候适应力。然后，将在案例研究的支持下，应用实验数据集评估农场规模，使用数学模型将信息汇集在一起，并考虑可以支持小农户更好决策的简单工具。最后，还通过使用模型来处理国家规模的工作，将印度农业的现有统计信息与专家的理解结合起来，以制定国家一级的估计和前瞻性。NEWS印度-英国虚拟中心的工作围绕5个科学组成部分组织：C1：植物策略，遗传学和提高植物NUE; C2：提高田间NUE的农艺策略; C3：农场规模的氮策略，最大限度地提高所有氮源的价值; C4：国家规模的氮策略和科学综合;最后，C5：能力建设，培训和传播，它连接整个虚拟中心，以加强研究一体化，并建立持久的印度-英国合作的基础。

The need to optimize agricultural nitrogen (N) use is fast emerging as a key global challenge where international cooperation can play a transformational role. The NEWS India-UK Virtual Joint Centre builds on existing global leadership by UK and Indian N researchers to develop and test innovative approaches to optimize N management that help meeting food security goals while reducing multiple environmental threats. The NEWS India-UK reflects the need to apply the full array of N management opportunities through bi-lateral cooperation between India and UK. This includes improving both crop biological nitrogen use efficiency (NUE), using improved genetic material to help biochemical processes be more efficient and agronomic NUE, which considers the amount of N reaching harvested products compared with N inputs, which can be improved by better field and fertilizer management practices. "NEWS" stands for Nitrogen Efficiency of Whole cropping Systems, reflecting the need for both these strategies if the full benefits are to be achieved. However, NEWS India-UK also takes two important further steps. Firstly, it applies the outcomes of biological and agronomic NUE advances at the farm scale. Critical here is the need to recycle all available N sources (such as manures, crop residues, atmospheric inputs and biological nitrogen fixation) and to examine the barriers that limit adoption of available methods at the farm scale. Secondly, it scales up the outcomes to the national scale. By focusing on establishing a full agricultural nitrogen budget for India, the approach will point to the major opportunities for improvement. This will integrate the plant and agronomic NUE strategies, farm scale options and national strategies (including from N policies, spatial optimization etc) that could be used to improve N management at a national level, giving clear estimates of the overall benefits. This will enable forward looks or 'scenarios' that explore 'what if' situations of how N could be managed better in the future and how it could contribute to food and energy security, improve agricultural resilience to climate change and reduce effects of water, air and soil pollution. Virtual Centre deliberately combines scientific disciplines to cross-fertilize ideas and develop more joined-up solutions. Analysis of natural genetic variation, together with the opportunity that can be provided by Genetic Modification (GM) techniques, will support process studies on improving plant level NUE. At the field scale, the project will quantify full nitrogen budgets, measure all major N emissions to the air and water and demonstrate how NUE improvements translate into reduced N pollution and greenhouse gas emission. The field scale will also bring together the options to see how a combination of genetic and agronomic improvements can maximize net benefits of better nitrogen management for higher productivity and climate resilience. The experimental datasets will then be applied, with support of case studies, to assess the farm scale, with mathematical models used to bring information together and to consider simple tools that can support small-holder farmers for better decision making. Finally, the national-scale work is also addressed by using models, where available statistical information for Indian agriculture is brought together with the expert understanding to develop country-level estimates and the forward look. The work of the NEWS India-UK virtual centre is organized around 5 science components: C1: Plant strategies, genetics and improving plant NUE; C2: Agronomic strategies to improving field-level NUE; C3: Farm scale nitrogen strategies, maximizing the value of all N sources; C4: National scale nitrogen strategies and scientific synthesis; and finally, C5: Capacity Building, Training and Dissemination, which links across the Virtual Centre to strengthen the research integration and build the basis for durable India-UK cooperation.