Contamination of Agrosystems by Agricultural Practices (COAPA)
The COAPA research group works on the development of technology that allows reducing gaseous emissions from agricultural systems, related to nitrification and urease inhibitors. It is one of the few Spanish groups that has provided results on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Spain.
The group is also working on the study of the possible use of ZnO NPs as nanofertilizers in soils deficient in the micronutrient zinc. A strong point of the group is its ability to carry out studies in field conditions, which well reproduce agricultural reality. In this sense, we collaborate with the National Center for Irrigation Technology (CENTER), belonging to the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, and the Madrid Institute of Rural, Agrarian and Food Research and Development (IMIDRA), which have experimental farms for the development of studies in conditions similar to those of a real agricultural operation.
The group’s main researcher has maintained national plan projects (agriculture area) uninterruptedly in the last 20 years. It has also participated in different European consortia and signed numerous contracts with companies in the fertilizer sector (such as Fertiberia, Agrotain, K + S Plus Iberia, Koch Agronomic Services, EuroChem Agro Iberica and Fertinagro Biotech) that have generated an important part of the financing of the investigation.
Lines of work
- Evaluation of greenhouse gas emissions in agricultural soils.
- Mitigation of nitrogen oxides and ammonia emissions in soils agricultural.
- Volatilization of ammonia from agricultural and livestock systems.
- Evaluation of nanoparticles metallic as fertilizers.
- Nitrate washing by agricultural practices and evaluation of the nitrogen balance.
Principal researcher
Vallejo, Antonio
Full ProfessorVallejo, Antonio
Full ProfessorProf. Vallejo has been PI of 8 national projects focused on the study of the effect of N use efficiency in cropping systems. In addition, he has also led 2 EU projects (PI of the Spanish partner), several projects of the Community of Madrid and, since 2009, he coordinates the AGRISOST Research Program.
During the last 10 years, he has obtained private funding from fertilizer companies (Fertiberia, Agrotain, EurochemAgro, Fertinagro, etc.) through annual contracts and competitive public calls for public-private partnerships.
Since 2000, his research work has been focused on the evaluation of nitrogen oxide emissions from cropping systems, delving into the mechanism and processes that control these emissions. Prof. Vallejo, presents a h=46 and has published 34 SCI articles since 2013, of which 32 are in Q1 journals. The group as a whole has published in this period a total of 77 SCI being more than 85%Q1.
- Department:Chemistry and Food Technology
- Research Group:Contamination of Agrosystems by Agricultural Practices (COAPA)
- School / Faculty:Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingeniería Agronómica, Alimentaria y de Biosistemas.
- Agency:Universidad Politécnica de Madrid.
- Lines of research:Greenhouse gas and reactive N emissions, denitrification, ammonia volatilization, nitrogen balances, aquifer pollution.
More information
UPM Research GroupProjects
See all projectsTowards a roadmap to increase nitrogen circularity through crop and livestock reconnection and ammonia abatement strategies in crop fertilization (AgrosceNa-NEXT)
NationalODS12, ODS15Resilient Agricultural IrrigatioN systems for water Scarcity in Europe (RAINS)
InternationalODS 6, ODS9Desarrollo de inhibidores de la nitrificación de origen biológico para su uso en fertilización
NationalODS9, ODS12, ODS13Manejo de residuos de cosecha y agua para reducir emisiones de n en cultivos de zonas semiáridas (CREWGAS)
National
Scientific results
See all results- Serra, J., Marinheiro, J., Marques dos Santos, C.S.C., Graversgaard, M., Quemada, M., Lassaletta, L., Ros, G.H., Giannini-Kurina, F., de Vries, W., Aguilera, E., van Grinsven, H.J.M., Hayashi, K., Mogollón, J., Sanz-Cobeña, A., Dalgaard, T. & Butterbach-Bahl, K.(2026)Evaluation of global research on agricultural nitrogen pollution between 1990 and 2023: Challenges for more efficacy and equityEnvironmental Science & Policy, 176. 104312.PapersJCR
- Sanz Cobeña, A. & Einarsson, R.(2025)Nitrogen efficiency falls short of environmental targetsnature food.PapersJCR
- García-Gómez, H., Einarsson, R., Theobald, M., Aguilera, E., Carrasco Molina, T., Gil, V., Gimeno, B.S., Hernández, C., Lassaletta, L., Rábago, I., van Grinsven, H., Vivanco, M.G. & Sanz-Cobeña, A.(2025)Impact of changing agricultural management on the exceedance of empirical critical loads of nitrogen in terrestrial habitats of southwestern EuropeEnvironmental Pollution, 126867PapersJCR
- Serra, J., Marques-dos-Santos, C., Marinheiro, J., Cruz, S., Cameira, M.R., de Vries, W., Dalgaard, T., Hutchings, N.J., Graversgaard, M., Giannini-Kurina, F., Lassaletta, L., Sanz-Cobeña, A., Quemada, M., Aguilera, E., Medinets, S., Einarsson, R. & Garnier, J.(2024)Assessing nitrate groundwater hotspots in Europe reveals an inadequate designation of Nitrate Vulnerable ZonesChemosphere, 355, 141830.PapersJCR