<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

Agriculture is a significant contributor to nitrate pollution of groundwater which in many cases serves as a source of drinking water. Therefore, targeted reduction of nitrogen leaching losses is fully justified to address this issue. The aim of the study was to define the areas of utilized agricultural land (UAL) in Slovakia, where a nitrogen surplus needs to be reduced. Using the average values of leachable nitrogen in the period 2015-2018 and the long-term amount of percolated water, the nitrate concentration in leachate was calculated. To ensure that agricultural activities will contribute to the gradual reduction of nitrate concentration in groundwater, the nitrate concentration in leachate of 40 mg L-1 was chosen as the target value. This concentration was exceeded at 11.7% of the UAL area. The average indicative amount of nitrogen in industrial fertilizers that needs to be reduced to achieve a stricter nitrate concentration in the leachate in these hot-spots is 16 kg ha-1 with the proviso that in two districts this value exceeds 30 kg ha-1.
</abstract>

Agriculture is a significant contributor to nitrate pollution of groundwater which in many cases serves as a source of drinking water. Therefore, targeted reduction of nitrogen leaching losses is fully justified to address this issue. The aim of the study was to define the areas of utilized agricultural land (UAL) in Slovakia, where a nitrogen surplus needs to be reduced. Using the average values of leachable nitrogen in the period 2015-2018 and the long-term amount of percolated water, the nitrate concentration in leachate was calculated. To ensure that agricultural activities will contribute to the gradual reduction of nitrate concentration in groundwater, the nitrate concentration in leachate of 40 mg L-1 was chosen as the target value. This concentration was exceeded at 11.7% of the UAL area. The average indicative amount of nitrogen in industrial fertilizers that needs to be reduced to achieve a stricter nitrate concentration in the leachate in these hot-spots is 16 kg ha-1 with the proviso that in two districts this value exceeds 30 kg ha-1.

Definition of hot-spots to reduce the nitrogen losses from agricultural land to groundwater in Slovakia

Ekológia (Bratislava)

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Agriculture is a significant contributor to nitrate pollution of groundwater which in many cases serves as a source of drinking water. Therefore, targeted...

Definition of hot-spots to reduce the nitrogen losses from agricultural land to groundwater in Slovakia

Published Online: Oct 17, 2022

Page range: 291 - 300

Received: May 17, 2022

Accepted: Aug 14, 2022

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/eko-2022-0030

Keywords
Nitrates Directive, groundwater pollution, vulnerable zones, nitrogen surplus, nitrate concentration, leachate

© 2022 Radoslav Bujnovský et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Definition of hot-spots to reduce the nitrogen losses from agricultural land to groundwater in Slovakia

Published Online: Oct 17, 2022

Page range: 291 - 300

Received: May 17, 2022

Accepted: Aug 14, 2022

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/eko-2022-0030

KeywordsNitrates Directive, groundwater pollution, vulnerable zones, nitrogen surplus, nitrate concentration, leachate

© 2022 Radoslav Bujnovský et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Keywords
Nitrates Directive, groundwater pollution, vulnerable zones, nitrogen surplus, nitrate concentration, leachate