2. Spatial and Temporal Nutrient Variability
Plant nutrient availability of agricultural soils vary spatially and temporally
Genesis Between cropping seasons
Topography Between years
Cropping History
Fertilization History
Resource availability
External fertilizer application requirement for individual farm
fields vary spatially and temporally
3. Spatial and Temporal Management of Soil
Nutrients
Economic
Improved Productivity
Higher Nutrient Use Efficiency
Optimum Soil Fertility Social
Improved Farm Income
Better Environmental Stewardship
Environmental
4. Dimensions of Site-Specificity of Nutrients
in smallholder system
Socio-economic
Indigenous Nutrient
Supply
Bio-physical Resource availability
Awareness
Genesis, Topography Management
Risk perception
Peer influence etc
5. How Farmers’ Make NM Decisions
Production Access to
orientation nutrients
Home/market
Availability
Resource
Peer
availability Access to
influence
Neighboring market
farmers/househol Sell/barter
d
Farmer decision that
Awareness eventually influence
Perception of Product
severity of the
problem
indigenous nutrient supply price
Risk Land
perception ownership
Drought/flood Own/rental
6. SSNM is a knowledge intensive process
Feeding crops as and when needed
• optimal use of existing indigenous nutrient sources
• timely application of fertilizers at optimal rates
– to meet deficit between the nutrient needs of a high-yielding crop
and the indigenous nutrient supply
Appropriate
Uptake
Indigenous time of
requirement of
nutrient supply application
crops
Expected
Attainable yield Nutrient in-flux nutrient
targets & out-flux response
7. On-farm Experimental design
• CSISA Phase I
• Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal
• Other partners
• Rajasthan, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand
• A set of mirror omission plots in no-till and conventional till
• Rice, Wheat, Maize
NPK 0N 0P 0K
+N, +P, +K 0N, +P, +K +N, 0P, +K +N, +P, 0K
• Design of a set of NPK and omission plots
• Actual yield from farmer’s fertilizer practice for comparison
• SSNM strategies developed from experimental data and evaluated against existing practices
8. Dissemination of SSNM in Smallholder
system
SIMPLIFY
Repackage SSNM principles to appropriate form and develop an
efficient delivery system to ensure adoption
SSNM Principles
Developing algorithms
Field
Applicability
Critical assumptions Models
to replace actual
processes
Decision support tool
9. Nutrient Expert for South Asia
Validation Results
Difference between Nutrient Expert based recommendation and Farmers’ Practice
Nutrient Expert
• A simple nutrient decision GRF# (Rs/ha) N (kg/ha) P (kg/ha) K (kg/ha)
Parameter Yield Fertilizer support tool
• Generates fertilizer recommendation for individual farmer’s field
(kg/ha) cost
• Nutrient recommendation is based on crop yield target and system
(Rs/ha)
nutrient balance
• Large scale validation trials showed improved yield and profit, and
Maize better nutrient stewardship than existing -81***
1131*** -4050** 15603*** practices -99*** 6ns
Wheat 932*** 496*** 9938*** 6** -2ns 63***
# Gross return over fertilizer cost
10. How Nutrient Expert Helps Smallholder
Farmers
• Simplicity…..it doesn’t intimidate ground level extension
workers
• Location specific nutrient recommendations can be
developed without a soil test
– Can work with or without soil testing
– Can provide field specific nutrient recommendation to millions of
smallholder farmers who do not have access to soil testing
• Provide recommendation that fits the farmer’s pocket
– Yield levels driven recommendation matching resources
– Logical distribution of resources to match nutrient
limitation/requirement in individual fields
• Allows ex-ante analysis of production potential, future
economic gain, risk management
11. SSNM in Smallholder system: Conclusion
Adapt technologies to smallholder systems
- Fit the dimension
- Musk the rigor
- Match resource availability
- Reduce risk
- Increase likelihood of profit
12. Plans for 2013 and beyond…..
• CSISA Phase II
• Development of Rice-Rice and Rice-Maize System Nutrient Management
Tools
• Omission Plots
• Growing environment information
• Synthesize current and historical data
• Validate developed tools
• Continue work on
– Integration of NE Tool in the NARES System and dissemination through
collaborative partners
– Training for research and extension personnel from public and private sector
– Posting of the Nutrient Expert in the IPNI as well as partner Institution websites
for free download and use by stakeholders at the end of 2013.
– Web version of the tool
