Chinese researchers say overuse of nitrogen fertiliser is poisoning the country's air, soil and water, and that farmers could reduce its use without compromising crop yields, Nature reports.

据《自然》杂志报援引中国研究者报道，过度使用氮肥会致使中国的空气，土壤及河流受到污染，而农民减少使用化肥并不会影响到粮食产量。

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But primarily, because nitrogen is a fertiliser, it favours wild plants that can maximise the use of nitrogen to help them grow.

但首先因为氮是一种肥料，它有利于那些能最大化利用氮素进行生长的野生植物。

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This is largely because of reductions in fertiliser use and the amount of nitrogen leaching from manure.

这是相当大的一部分，因为可以减少施肥和从动物粪便中滤出的氮。

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The energy inputs required to produce the crops included nitrogen fertiliser, herbicides, diesel and seed production.

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Water was also plentiful it takes 1, 000 tonnes of water to produce a tonne of grain and an ingenious process known as Haber-Bosch makes synthetic nitrogen fertiliser easily available to grain farmers.

ECONOMIST: Food in rich countries

Haber nitrogen was not used as fertiliser in large quantities until the middle of the 20th century, and for a good reason.

ECONOMIST: The story of man's staple food