Assessing the impact of Cross Compliance measures on nitrogen fluxes from European farmlands with DNDC-EUROPE

We investigated the effects of the agricultural Cross Compliance measures for European cultivated lands, focusing on nitrogen (N) fluxes from corn fields. Four scenarios have been designed according to some conservation farming practices, namely no-till, max manure, catch crop and N splitting. Results indicated that (1) in the no-till scenario the N2O fluxes are decreased during the first simulated years, with a return to default fluxes in following years; no-till particularly decreased N2O emission in the dryer and colder simulation spatial units (HSMUs); (2) the no-till and the N splitting scenarios slightly increased the N surplus because of a decrease in plant uptake; (3) introducing a rotation with alfalfa decreased the N leaching in the corn crops following the catch crops; and (4) the application of fertilizer and manure during the cold and wet seasons led to an increase of N leaching.

► Cross Compliance measures reduced the environmental impact of farming activities.
► No-tillage decreased N2O emissions especially in the dryer and colder regions.
► The manure limit amendment decreased the N2O emission, N leaching and surplus.
► The rotation yield-catch crops decreased the N leaching.
► The N input during cold and wet periods significantly augmented the N leaching.