Improved crop nutrient management for productive and resilient farming systems in the SAT: Case study from India (Girish Chander, Suhas P Wani, Kanwar L Sahrawat/KSIConnect’s Virtual Seminar/ICRISAT, Patancheru/13 June 2013)

• Per capita arable land: 0.39 ha in 1951; 0.12 ha in 2011; and expected 0.10 ha in 2025 and 0.09 ha by 2050

• Population: 359 million in 1951; 1.21 billion in 2011, expected 1.39 billion by 2025 and 1.58 billion by 2050

• Food demand: 290 M mt by 2025 and 380 M mt by 2050

• 40% of irrigated area has reached productivity plateau

• 89 m ha rainfed regions hope for future food security

India at a glance

Low rainwater use efficiency (RWUE) in rainfed regions: half the rainwater in agricultural land is lost as nonproductive evaporation

Large yield gaps on farmers’ fields

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)Rainfed potential yield

Farmers' yield

Vast potential of rainfed agriculture is untapped

Long term study at ICRISAT: Message

Hungry soils leading to inefficient use of natural resources

Soils not only thirsty, but hungry also

State

No. of

Dists.

No. of

Farmers

% classed as low

OC Av-Zn Av-B Av-S Av-P Av-K

Karnataka 16 33200 66 57 66 83 45 14

Andhra Pradesh 11 3650 76 69 85 79 38 12

Rajasthan 9 421 38 46 56 71 45 15

Madhya Pradesh 12 341 22 66 79 74 74 1

Tamil Nadu 5 119 57 61 89 71 51 24

Gujarat 1 82 12 85 100 46 60 10

OC= Organic carbon; Zn=Zinc; B=boron; S=sulphur; P=Phosphorus; K=Potassium

Individual nutrient deficiencies are scattered differently pointing to a need of smaller region level fertilizer management practices

GIS interpolation of nutrient deficiencies

Madhya Pradesh, rainy season 2009 and 2010

Balanced nutrition (BN) for higher crop and water productivity

District Crop

Crop yield

(kg ha-1)

Additional

return on

BN (Rs.)

Additional

cost on BN

(Rs.)

B:C

ratio

RWUE

(kg ha-1 mm-1)

FP BN FP BN

Rainy season 2009

Jhabua Soybean 1530 1750 (14%) 3520 1525 2.31 2.72 3.11

Jhabua Paddy 2800 3550 (27%) 7500 1525 4.92 4.97 6.31

Jhabua Greengram 725 875 (21%) 7500 1525 4.92 1.29 1.55

Rainy season 2010

Mandla Paddy 2070 2910 (41%) 8400 1525 5.51 3.34 4.69

Mandla Groundnut 1090 1710 (57%) 14260 1525 9.35 1.76 2.76

FP=Farmers’ practice; BN=Balanced nutrition; B:C=Benefit to cost; RWUE=Rainwater use efficiency

ICRISAT, Patancheru, India, rainy season 2010

BN options

Treatment Maize grain yield

(kg ha-1)

Soybean grain yield

(kg ha-1)

Control 860 2040

NP 3440 (10.5) 2110 (0.78)

NP+SBZn-(1 yr) 3950 (6.36) 2440 (1.74)

NP+50%SBZn-(1 yr) 5230 (11.9) 2700 (4.14)

NP+SBZn-(2 yr) 4540 (10.1) 2620 (3.63)

NP+50%SBZn-(2 yr) 3900 (9.92) 2500 (3.70)

LSD (5%) 1015 515

N=nitrogen; P=Phosphorus; S=Sulphur; B=Boron; Zn=Zinc

On-farm produced vermicompost contain on an average 1.0% N, 0.8% P, 0.7% K, 0.26% S, 110 mg B kg-1, 60 mg Zn kg-1 and 14% organic C plus other essential nutrients

Recycling farm wastes for food production

District Grain yield (kg ha-1) % increase B:C

FP BN 50%

BN+VC BN

50% BN+VC

BN 50%

BN+VC

Maize (Zea mays)

Sawai Madhopur 2330 2700 3000 16 29 2.55 5.69

Tonk 2410 2760 3060 15 27 1.59 4.59

Pearl millet [Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.] Tonk 1720 2060 2280 20 33 1.39 3.47

Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea)

Tonk 1340 1530 1660 14 24 2.42 7.79 Soybean (Glycine max)

Jhalawar 1940 2370 2620 22 35 3.32 8.42

FP=Farmers’ practice; BN=Balanced nutrition; VC=Vermicompost

Rajasthan, rainy season 2011

Soybean grain in Raisen district in Madhya Pradesh

BN and INM for food nutritional quality

Treatment

Nutrient contents

N

(g kg-1)

P

(g kg-1)

K

(g kg-1)

S

(mg kg-1)

B

(mg kg-1)

Zn

(mg kg-1)

FP 59.8 5.20 18.8 3254 33.7 55.6

BN 60.2 5.20 18.3 3279 33.9 56.4

50% BN+VC 61.0 5.70 18.9 3807 34.6 67.3

LSD (5%) 7.2 0.80 1.7 415 5.09 11.2

FP=Farmers’ practice; BN=Balanced nutrition; VC=Vermicompost

Medak, AP, Sugarcane crop, 2010-11

BN for better produce quality

ICRISAT, Patancheru, Maize crop, rainy season 2010

N use efficiency improved under BN

Treatment NUpE (kg kg-1)

NUtE (kg kg-1)

NUE (kg kg-1)

NHI (%)

Control 1.00 60.2 60.2 46.8

NP 0.37 80.7 30.1 67.3

NP+SBZn-(1 yr) 0.46 78.5 36.0 60.5

NP+50%SBZn-(1 yr) 0.51 92.5 47.3 65.8

NP+SBZn-(2 yr) 0.47 84.4 39.7 69.3

NP+50%SBZn-(2 yr) 0.42 80.8 34.1 67.0

LSD (5%) 0.11 17.4 8.85 11.3

NUpE=Nitrogen uptake efficiency; NUtE=N utilization efficiency; NUE=N use efficiency; NHI= N harvest index

Maize crop at ICRISAT, Patancheru, 2010 rainy season

P use efficiency improved under BN

Treatment PUpE

(kg kg-1)

PUtE

(kg kg-1)

PUE

(kg kg-1)

PHI

(%)

Control 1.00 172 172 60.4

NP 0.49 228 111 83.5

NP+SBZn-(1 yr) 0.41 328 134 83.9

NP+50%SBZn-(1 yr) 0.51 343 176 87.9

NP+SBZn-2 yr 0.53 281 146 90.1

NP+50%SBZn-2 yr 0.44 299 125 84.9

LSD (5%) 0.15 83.7 38.6 9.40

PUpE=Phosphorus uptake efficiency; PUtE=P utilization efficiency; PUE=P use efficiency; PHI= P harvest index

Nalgonda district, Andhra Pradesh, after 2010 rainy season

Post-harvest soil health improved under BN

Jhabua, MP, soybean crop, rainy season 2012

Resilience building thru S, B and Zn (BN)

FP=Farmers’ practice; BN=Balanced nutrition

Maize crop in Rajasthan, India during rainy season 2009

BN for expressing varietal potential yield

FP=Farmers’ practice; IC=Improved cultivar; BN=Balanced nutrition

District

Rainfall Yield (kg ha-1) LSD (5%)

Additional cost on BN + IC over FP

(Rs ha-1)

Additional return on BN + IC over FP

(Rs ha-1) B:C

ratio (mm) FP FP + IC BN + IC

Tonk 288 1150 1930 3160 280 4250 ($89) 18100 ($379) 4.26

Udaipur 570 2530 3090 6320 509 4250 ($89) 34140 ($714) 8.03

Mean (5 districts)

1810 2550 (41%)

4340 (141%)

4250 ($89) 22760 ($476) 5.36

Crop diversification in Karnataka during rainy season 2011 under SBY

BN for high value agriculture & more benefits

Crop FP (t ha-1

) BN (t ha-1

) Additional benefit

(Rs.)

Range Mean

Gross

income

(Rs)

Range Mean Gross income

(Rs) Range Mean

Tomato 11.8 – 27.5 20.4 102000 15.6 – 35.3 25.2 126000 6000 – 45500 24000

Okra 8.30 – 11.0 9.27 111240 10.5 – 14.6 12 144000 26400 – 43200 32760

Red

chillies 1.16 - 3.00 1.92 192000 1.41 – 3.73 2.37 237000 20000 – 73000 45000

Onion 8.90 – 24.5 14.3 85800 11.4 – 31.8 17.4 104400 6000 – 43800 18600

Cabbage 21.0 – 36.5 26.3 157800 29.3 – 44.3 34.8 208800 46800 – 59400 51000

FP=Farmers practice; BN=Balanced nutrition

BN for rainy fallows cultivation

• 2.02 million ha of Madhya Pradesh state, India under rainy season fallows

• Balanced nutrition plus landform management and short duration cultivar to grow soybean

Madhya Pradesh, soybean crop, rainy season, 2010

District

Grain yield

CD (5%)

RWUE

(kg ha-1

) (kg mm-1

ha-1

)

CF+BN BBF+BN CF+BN BBF+BN

Raisen 1270 1360 59 1.64 1.76

Shajapur 2320 2460 139 4.22 4.47 CF=Conservation furrow; BBF=Broadbed and furrow; RWUE=Rainwater use efficiency

Chickpea crop in rainy fallow regions in Madhya Pradesh, post-rainy season, 2010-11

BN in rainy fallows - Post-rainy season crop

District

Grain yield LSD

(5%)

Straw yield LSD

(5%) (kg ha-1) (kg ha-1)

FP CF BBF FP CF BBF

Raisen 1010 1150 1230 61.7 930 1090 1130 62.2

Shajapur 960 1190 1420 153.2 960 1180 1420 140.4

FP=Farmers practice; CF=Conservation furrow; BBF=Broadbed and furrow

• >10 states in India – generating huge on-farm data • Karnataka: Bhoochetana (reviving the soils) in 30 districts • Karnataka agriculture sector recorded a growth of 5.9% during 2009-10 and 11.6% during 2010-11 • During 2011 rainy season, 3 m ha area covered fetched economic returns to the tune of USD 130 million • Andhra Pradesh: government supporting implementation of Bhuchetana in ~0.3 million ha across 22 districts during 2013 rainy season

Scaling up BN for crop intensification

• Soil fertility related degradation is a major stumbling block for realization of achievable yields in the SAT

• Soil test-based balanced nutrition is critical in improving crop & water productivity, nutritional quality, resource use efficiency and resilience building of production systems

• Balanced nutrition is must for exploitation of genetic potential of improved cultivars and higher benefits thru diversification to high value agriculture

• Balanced nutrition along with landform management and seed priming is most needed technology to bring current rainy and post-rainy fallows under cultivation

• Reviving degraded lands thru improved nutrient management is the way forward to usher in an era of productive and resilient farming systems in the SAT

Conclusions

Thank you!

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