# Biological Nitrification Inhibition (BNI) activity of temperate catch crops: a promising strategy to reduce nitrification in fertilized soils

Aude Mancia, Hervé Vanderschuren, Cécile Thonar, Hugo Murillo

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Aude Mancia, Hervé Vanderschuren, Cécile Thonar, Hugo Murillo. Biological Nitrification Inhibition (BNI) activity of temperate catch crops: a promising strategy to reduce nitrification in fertilized soils. Smart technology to support Agro-ecological transition | Opportunity or obstacle ?, Agreensmart symposium, Aug 2023, Gembloux, Belgium. hal-05381805

HAL Id: hal-05381805

https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-05381805v1

Submitted on 25 Nov 2025

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# Biological Nitrification Inhibition (BNI) activity of temperate catch crops: a promising strategy to reduce nitrification in fertilized soils

Aude Mancia (aude.mancia@uliege.be)ª; Hervé Vanderschurenª; Cécile Thonarª,ᵇ, Hugo Murilloᵇ

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Project CATCH-BNI : https://www.suscrop.eu/projects-second-call/catch-bni

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* About 70% of N inputs in agroecosystems are lost (N₂O emissions, NO₃⁻ leaching, NH₃ volatilization) so importance to increase N use efficiency of crops

* Nitrification inhibitors (NIs) such as DMPP can be used to reduce nitrification in agricultural soils but are associated with many drawbacks (cost, environmental impact, public acceptance).

* Attention is now turned onto a promising alternative: Biological Nitrification Inhibition (BNI), i.e., the ability of some plants to naturally produce Nis

**Main objective:** This research, within the European project CATCH-BNI, aimed to identify BNI-based approaches to stabilize N-fractions of fertilizers applied to target crops.

<caption>**Fig. 1** Schematic representation of the effect of BNIs on N cycle and crop nutrition</caption>

## Materials and methods

* Short-term soil incubation experiment.

* Optimal conditions for nitrification (20°C, 60% WFPS)

* Five soil treatments: soil not treated, soil treated with DMPP, rhizospheric soils from white mustard cultivar « Verdi » and cultivar « Pole Position » and rhizospheric soil from spring wheat cultivar « Persia 44 » (a benchmark for its BNI property).

* Three fertilization treatments: ammonium sulfate (AS), Orgamine 7 (Fayt-Carlier s.a., Belgium), and liquid digestate (Biogaz du Haut Geer, Belgium). Application at 100 mgN kg⁻¹ DW soil

* Negative control: non-treated soil + no fertilization

* Non-destructive measurement of N₂O fluxes with gas analyzer

* Destructive sampling at Day 0 (just after fertilization), Day 7 and Day 21 for determination of mineral N concentrations

<figure><img src="image_5.png" /><figcaption>**Fig. 2** Soil incubation experiments to assess stabilization of organic fertilizers with BNI material (catch crops tissues or rhizospheric soil): A/Pots containing incubated soil B/ Measurement of N₂O emissions with an infrared gas analyzer C/Results of the test for NO₃⁻ concentration determination</figcaption></figure>

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