Iowa State University - Department of Agronomy - Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy with Dr. Antonio Mallarino - Saturday, May 17th, 2014

Antonio Mallarino explaining the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy

Agricultural land is a major contributor to the balance of nutrients entering waterways and to the degradation of water quality. We visited a professor of soil fertility, Dr. Antonio Mallarino, at Iowa State University to discuss Iowa’s nutrient reduction strategy. Dr. Mallarino’s research group and colleagues have contributed to the understanding of the fate of nitrogen and phosphorus applied as fertilizer to agricultural systems.

The rather ambitious goal of the Iowa nutrient reduction strategy is to reduce the amount of nitrogen and phosphorus being transported to the Gulf of Mexico from Iowa by 45%. Dr. Mallarino described the efforts being made by an interdisciplinary team of scientists, government officials (local to federal) and producers to improve the quantity and quality of data that can be used to guide and track the effectiveness of management practices that mitigate nutrient loss from agricultural land.
- Andrew