Regions

Overview

The INI East Asia Center was established in 2004 and represents China, Japan, Korea and the Philippines. The Center is charged with the assessment of nitrogen flows and budgets within the region, and to determine the environmental, human health, and economic consequences of alterations to the nitrogen cycle within East Asia. It plays a key role in helping to develop solutions to improve sustainable nitrogen use within the region.
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Regional Steering Committee

TBA
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Contact

• Kentaro Hayashi (Director)
• Baojing Gu (Deputy Director)

Overview

The INI Europe Center was established in 2004 and covers the European Union, as well as non-EU Eastern European countries. It coordinated the ESF-programme “Nitrogen in Europe” and the COST action 729 “Assessing and managing nitrogen fluxes in the atmosphere-biosphere system in Europe”. It led the writing and publication of the European Nitrogen Assessment (ENA) published in 2011. It aims to facilitate enhanced cooperation and integration among European researchers, policy makers and practitioners to cover environmental issues related to reactive nitrogen, and develop mechanisms to motivate European nitrogen scientists and others to contribute to more integrated policy development.
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Regional Steering Committee

‍TBD
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Contact

• Luis Lassaletta (Director)
• Alberto Sanz-Cobeña (Deputy Director)

Overview

The INI Latin American Center was established in 2004. The region is vital in the provision of global supplies of food, fiber and biofuel, both in current and future scenarios. The central challenge in this region is how to balance the regions high agricultural potential whilst conserving its mega-biodiversity and related ecosystem services. Currently, a diverse range of natural ecosystems and socio-economic conditions in the region are coupled with a lack of information on actual impacts of human activity on nitrogen cycling. The INI Latin America Center works to raise awareness of nitrogen issues, and the solutions that will drive change towards a more sustainable nitrogen future.
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Regional Steering Committee

‍TBA
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Contact

Cristina Chinchilla (Director)

Overview

The INI North America Center was established in 2004. It focuses on assessing how human activity has altered nitrogen flows within North America, determing the environmental, human health, and economic consequences of this alteration, and helping to develop solutions to reduce the problem.
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Regional Steering Committee

• Jana Compton (US EPA)
• William San Martín (Worcester Polytechnic Institute)
• Kate Tully (University of Maryland)
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Contact

Peter Groffman (Director)

Overview

The INI Oceania Center was established in 2020, with Oceania  home to 42 million people in 14 countries, across more than 1000 islands in Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia. In line with global trends, there is increasing use of N fertilizers in crop and animal production systems in Oceania, although these impacts are largely regionally specific. Inputs range from insufficient to excessive, reflecting the diverse socio-economic conditions, climates, crop types and production systems as well as regional policy settings. The INI Oceania Center plays a key role in helping to develop solutions to improve sustainable nitrogen use within the region.
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Regional Steering Committee

‍TBA
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Contact

• Cameron Gourley (Director)
• Susanne Schmidt (Deputy Director)

Overview

The INI South Asian Center was established in 2012 and covers eight countries: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The center is tasked with assessing the impact of anthropogenic activities on nitrogen flows, determining the ecological, environmental, health impacts and their economic consequences, cataloguing technologies and supporting policy initiatives in the member countries to address the issue. The work of the South Asian Nitrogen Hub harnesses much of the INI South Asia expertise and will continue through INI South Asia once the project period ends.
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Regional Steering Committee

• Nandula Raghuram (INI Chair Emeritus)

Contact

• Tariq Aziz (Director)
• Umesh Kulshrestha (Deputy Director)

Recent Events

World Soils Day, December 23, 2023 - Department of Soil Science at UAF Sub-
Campus Depalpur, Okara of University of Agriculture Faisalabad in collaboration with South Asia
Nitrogen Hub, International Nitrogen Initiative (INI) and Fauji Fertilizers Company.

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Soil, a non-renewable resource essential for food growth, is being degraded on a large scale, experts highlighted during the World Soil Day 2023 celebration by the Department of Soil Science. The theme, “Soil and Water: A Source of Life,” aimed to raise awareness about maintaining the ecosystem and the importance of soil. Competitions for poster presentations and video documentaries on “Sustainable Nitrogen Fertilizer Management for Improved Soil and Water Quality” were held. The event was inaugurated by Principal Dr. Tahir Munir Butt, Dr. Tariq Aziz, Regional Director (South Asia) for INI, and Mr. Qadeer Ahmad, Regional Manager FFC, Sahiwal Division. Faculty members, students, and media personnel participated in the ceremony and awareness walk.

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The main themes/messages of the posters and video documentary were
1. The Fertilizers particularly nitrogenous fertilizers are direly needed for healthy crop growth and
yield, and are responsible for ensuring food security.
2. Excessive and inefficient fertilizers may pollute the soil, water and air quality, hence balanced
fertilizer applications as per soil requirements and crop needs, should be applied.
3. Soil is a non-renewable resource and is the basis for food production. We should work to
improve soil health and quality for sustainable crop production and reducing impacts of climate
change.
4. Immediate ban on conversion of green land (cultivated/arable land, forests) into housing
societies and industries, should be imposed with strict implementation.

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