The principles of crop ecology provide valuable information onto optimizing agricultural practices and improving crop productivity. Ecological management of the crop environment focuses on creating a balanced and diverse ecosystem that promotes natural pest and disease control while minimising the use of chemical inputs or enhancing the use of integrated Nutrient Management. Agriculture is built upon fertile soil, a favorable climate, ample freshwater, a diversity of plant and animal species, and the skills and labor of farmers and farm workers. These are the ecological foundations of our food system. They are also endangered by depletion, disruption, or trough diseases. Finding ways to better preserve the health of agricultural ecosystems is key to the long-term sustainability of our food supply. The increasing food demands of a growing human population and the need for an environmentally friendly strategy for sustainable agricultural development require significant attention when addressing the echological issue of enhancing crop productivity. Here we discuss the role of integrated nutrient management (INM). This review examines the concepts, objectives, procedures and principles of INM. A comprehensive literature search revealed that INM enhances crop yields by 8–15 % compared with conventional practices, increases water-use efficiency, and the economic returns to farmers, while improving grain quality and soil health and sustainability. Model simulation and fate assessment further reveal that reactive nitrogen (N) losses and GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions are reduced substantially under advanced INM practices. Lower

inputs of chemical fertilizer and therefore lower human and environmental costs (such as intensity of land use, N use, reactive N losses and GHG emissions) were achieved under advanced INM practices without compromising crop yields.

Highlights

• The incresing pressure to meet global creal production poses great challenge.
• A changing environment further threatyens crop production.