Informe El medio ambiente en Europa: Estado y perspectivas 2020

PART 2
FIGURE 13.2
Development of the gross nitrogen balance, nitrogen use efficiency and gross value added, EU-27
Index (2005 = 1.00)
1.15
1.10
1.05
1.00
0.95
0.90
0.85
0
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Gross Nitrogen Balance (GNB) Nitrogen Use Efficiency (NUE) Agri Gross Value Added (GVA Agri)
Notes:
GNB, gross nitrogen balance; NUE, nitrogen use efficiency; GVA (agri), agricultural gross value added (agricultural industry). GNB
and NUE are based on Eurostat data (aei_pr_gnb), Eurostat estimates for Estonia (2015), Romania and Croatia (2004-2014) Belgium,
Bulgaria, Denmark, Greece, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta (2004-2015). GVA of the agricultural industry (values at
current prices) based on Eurostat data (tag00056), economic accounts for agriculture — values at current prices.
Source: EEA calculations based on Eurostat data. 2005 = 1.
from agricultural land, and nutrient
levels still exceed nutrient critical loads
in most of the EU. Looking ahead,
a decrease of 2.6 % in comparison
to 2008 is projected for the average
nitrogen surplus in the EU by 2030. The
largest fall in the surplus is projected in
regions where a reduction in livestock
herd size is expected (EC, 2017b).
Many factors can influence the
development of the nitrogen balance
and trends vary regionally. These
factors include ambitions to reduce
production costs, policy measures,
the availability and prices of different
types of nitrogen fertilisers and
livestock numbers (EC, 2011b;
Eurostat, 2018b). Efficiency gains
observed in Europe may have been
achieved by adapting nitrogen
management, such as changes in
fertiliser application techniques or by
more targeted selection of varieties
(Balafoutis et al., 2017; Schrijver, 2016;
Zarco-Tejada et al., 2014).
Technological developments have the
potential to enable more targeted use
of inputs. However, such synergies
between environmental and economic
interests do not occur when it comes
to the structure and diversity of
agricultural landscapes, and soil
quality and health. Efforts to increase
production efficiency and income
have resulted in increasing land
parcel sizes, a reduction in landscape
features and drainage of land. This
consolidation, increasing homogeneity
298 SOER 2020/Environmental pressures and sectors