The UK Government has announced its commitment to fund up to £20 million of a major international research programme to tackle the challenge that nitrogen pollution poses for environment, food security, human health and the economy in South Asia.

The South Asian Nitrogen Hub, a partnership led by the UK’s Centre for Ecology & Hydrology and comprising around 50 organisations from across the UK and South Asia, will be established with funding from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) under its Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF).

The Hub will be awarded £19.6 million over the next five years — £17.1 million from URKI and £2.5m from the UK and international partners, including the South Asia Cooperative Environment Programme. Contributions in-kind worth a further £7 million are being offered by partners of the UKRI GCRF South Asian Nitrogen Hub.

The Hub is one of 12 GCRF hubs announced by the UKRI to address intractable challenges in sustainable development. The interdisciplinary hubs will work across 85 countries with governments, international agencies, partners and NGOs.

India is a major partner with 18 Indian institutions in this project. “India is the only country in South Asia that has completed its nitrogen assessment over a year ago and is already co-leading the South Asian nitrogen assessment with CEH, UK, for the UN Environment”, said N. Raghuram, Chairman of the International Nitrogen Initiative and Professor of Biotechnology at Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, New Delhi, also a partner of this project.

Nitrogen pollution impact

Nitrogen pollution comes in many forms, with multiple impacts – for humans, animals and plant life. Gases such as ammonia (NH3) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) contribute to poor air quality and can aggravate respiratory and heart conditions, leading to millions of premature deaths across the world; while nitrous oxide (N2O) is a greenhouse gas that depletes the ozone layer. Nitrate from chemical fertilizers, manure and industry pollutes rivers and seas, posing a health risk for humans, fish, coral and plant life.

The UKRI GCRF South Asian Nitrogen Hub will study the impact of the different forms of pollution to form a coherent picture of the nitrogen cycle. In particular, it will look at nitrogen in agriculture in eight countries – India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and Maldives. The Hub’s recommendations will support cleaner and more profitable farming, as well as industrial recycling of nitrogen, fostering development of a cleaner circular economy for nitrogen.

UKRI Chief Executive Mark Walport says: “From tackling climate change to preventing and treating infectious diseases, the search for knowledge is a global endeavour that requires collaboration between the world’s best minds. The creation of 12 global research hubs demonstrates the commitment of the UK to ensuring our researchers and innovators can work with their counterparts across the world.

Mark Sutton of the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, an international nitrogen expert who will head the UKRI GCRF South Asian Nitrogen Hub, says: “As a global society, we struggle with the intractable problems of air pollution, climate change and declining water quality, biodiversity and health. However, better nitrogen management will provide solutions to all of them and offers a triple win – for the economy, health and environment”.

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