Abstract
Reduction of excess nutrient application and balanced fertilizer use are the key mitigation options in agriculture. We evaluated Nutrient Expert (NE) tool-based site-specific nutrient management (SSNM) in rice and wheat crops by establishing 1594 side-by-side comparison trials with farmers’ fertilization practices (FFP) across the Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP) of India. We found that NE-based fertilizer management can lower global warming potential (GWP) by about 2.5% in rice, and between 12 and 20% in wheat over FFP. More than 80% of the participating farmers increased their crop yield and farm income by applying the NE-based fertilizer recommendation. We also observed that increased crop yield and reduced fertilizer consumption and associated greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by using NE was significantly influenced by the crop type, agro-ecology, soil properties and farmers’ current level of fertilization. Adoption of NE-based fertilizer recommendation practice in all rice and wheat acreage in India would translate into 13.92 million tonnes (Mt) more rice and wheat production with 1.44 Mt less N fertilizer use, and a reduction in GHG of 5.34 Mt CO2e per year over farmers’ current practice. Our study establishes the utility of NE to help implement SSNM in smallholder production systems for increasing crop yields and farmers’ income while reducing GHG emissions.
Highlights
Reduction of excess nutrient application and balanced fertilizer use are the key mitigation options in agriculture
Potash (K2O) input was significantly higher under Nutrient Expert (NE) than under farmers’ fertilization practices (FFP) (Fig. 1b), phosphorus (P2O5) input was significantly lower under NEbased recommendations than FFP, except for rice in Western Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP) (Fig. 1c)
Increased crop yield and reduced fertilizer consumption by NE can be attributed to increased nutrient use efficiency (NUE) as NE gives dynamic fertilizer recommendation based on growing conditions, soil indigenous nutrient supply and residual nutrients from previous crops thereby minimizing the loss of nutrients
Summary
Reduction of excess nutrient application and balanced fertilizer use are the key mitigation options in agriculture. We evaluated Nutrient Expert (NE) tool-based site-specific nutrient management (SSNM) in rice and wheat crops by establishing 1594 side-by-side comparison trials with farmers’ fertilization practices (FFP) across the Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP) of India. Our study establishes the utility of NE to help implement SSNM in smallholder production systems for increasing crop yields and farmers’ income while reducing GHG emissions. Various technologies and practices such as Chlorophyll M eter[12], Leaf Color C hart13, GreenSeeker[14] and decision support systems for instance Nutrient Expert (NE) (http://software.ipni.net) and Rice Crop Manager (http://cropmanager.irri.org/ home) are available for helping farmers to implement SSNM and improve N UE9,15. This study presents results from a large number of on-farm participatory trials (1594-paired data) comparing farmers’ fertilizer practices (FFP) vs NE-based nutrient management in terms of fertilizer inputs, yields, economic returns, and GHG emissions in rice and wheat fields in India. The results of this study provide rich information to the agriculture and fertilizer policymakers to enable them to design fertilizer use and distribution policies and farmers’ support programs in the IGP and other parts of the country
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