Nutrient Management in Conservation Agriculture- Focus in MAIZE & WHEAT CRPs

Global Conservation Agriculture Program (GCAP)International Maize & Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT)

www.cimmyt.org

ML JatM.Jat@cgiar.org

Rationale

• Sustainable food & livelihood security

• Management has to play major role- Nutrient management is the key

• Diminishing NUE-imbalanced and inappropriate nutrient use (Blanket, adhoc, commodity focused recommendations)

• Escalating fertilizer prices

• Lack of diagnostic and decision support tools for real time decision/access to information

• Contrasting management practices (CA v/sconventional)- recommendation unavailable

• Nutrient management: GHGs, soil health

• Databases-planning at scale

• Reaching masses-ICTs

Current Nutrient Recommendations

• Mainly based on single crop.. Lacking systems

approach

• Recommended for large area…Not site-specific

• Do not involve nutrient recycling… residue

retention/incorporation

• Does not involve soil moisture regimes

• No prescription for contrasting tillage practices

• No recommendation for inter/relay/multiple

cropping

NPK Use in India: 1950 to 2007

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

1980

-81

1981

-82

1982

-83

1983

-84

1984

-85

1985

-86

1986

-87

1987

-88

1988

-89

1989

-90

1990

-91

1991

-92

1992

-93

1993

-94

1994

-95

1995

-96

1996

-97

1997

-98

1998

-99

1999

-00

2000

-01

2001

-02

2002

-03

2003

-04

2004

-05

2005

-06

2006

-07

2007

-08

Year

N c

on

su

mp

tio

n p

er

yr.

(m

illio

n

ton

ne

s)

0

5

10

15

20

25

PFP of nitrogen (Kg grain yield per kg N applied)

Fo

od

gra

in p

rod

uc

tio

n (

0 m

illio

n

ton

ne

s)

N Consumption (million tonnes) Kg grain per kg applied N Foodgrain production (mil

Changes in Agronomic N Use Efficiency for Food Grain Production,total N Consumption and Total Food Grain Production in India

No. of Soil

testing

Laboratory

Analyzing

capacity

('000)

No. of samples

analyzed

('000)

%

utilization

551 6747 4826 71.5

Soil testing laboratories in India & their analyzing capacity: An example

• 1.3% of total area at 72% capacity utilization and 1.88% at full capacity utilization

Source - DOA, Government of India, Fertilizer statistics

-14

-12

-10

-8

-6

-4

-2

0

2

4

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012N P2O5 K2O

Fertilizer nutrient scenario in Asia, 2008-2012Nutrient Balance (million tonnes)

Source: FAO, 2008

Nutrient Management Perspectives

S. No Production Variables Dynamics

1 Cropping Systems More intensive, Monotony

2 Water Table Declined/increased

3 Soil nutrients Deficiencies surfaced

4 Tillage, Land leveling Contrasting

5 Organics Different

6 Cultivar Choices Wider

7 Climatic variability Extremes

8 Policy ??

------Everything is changing- How nutrient prescriptions designed for different situations will work under contrasting production environments?

-----Soil in ‘good condition’ (static) or ‘good health’ (dynamic) benefits from the key components of CA ---Shaxson et al (2008)

Nutrient Management in relation to CA

1. Minimum disturbance of soil

2. Soil cover

3. Efficient rotations

1. Minimum disturbance of optimum porous soil architecture

•Optimum proportions of respiration gases in the rooting-zone

•Moderates organic-matter oxidation;

•Porosity to water movement, retention and release at all scales

•Limits re-exposure of weed seeds and their germination

Source: Kassam (2009)

2. A permanent covering of sufficient organic matter over the soil surface

• Buffering against severe impact of solar radiation and rainfall;

• A substrate for soil organisms’ activity;

• Raised cation-exchange capacity for nutrient capture, retention and slow-release;

• Smothering of weeds

Source: Kassam (2009)

• Minimal rates of build-up of populations of pest species, through life-cycle disruption;

• Biological N-fixation in appropriate conditions, limiting external costs;

• Prolonged slow-release of such N from complex organic molecules derived from soil organisms;

• Range of species, for direct harvest and/or fodder;

• Soil improvement by organic-matter addition at all depths reached.

3. Cropping sequences and rotations which include legumes

Source: Kassam (2009)

CA and Soil Nutrient Supplying Capacity

Source: CIMMYT-IPNI Collaborative project report (2010)

Nutrient Experts: Decision Support Tools for SSNM in wheat, maize

• Fine tuning and field validation under contrasting management practices in India jointly by IPNI and CIMMYT

Parameter Unit FFP SR NE P>F†

Grain yield kg/ha 4.4 4.7 5.2 <.001

Fertilizer N kg/ha 157 139 165 <.001

Fertilizer P kg/ha 24 27 25 0.387

Fertilizer K kg/ha 0.9 39.0 69.7 <.001

Fertilizer cost USD/ha 57 62 73 -

GRF‡ USD/ha 1034 1102 1214 <.001

† Statistical analysis (SAS) using Mixed Procedure with sites as random effects, ‡GRF- gross return above fertilizer costs

Agronomic and economic performance of FFP, SR, and NE (SSNM) based nutrient prescriptions in wheat across

sites (n=27) under conservation agriculture practice, IGP, India, (2010-11)

Source: IPNI-CIMMYT collaborative trials across IGP under CSISA

Future Nutrient Management Focus

S. No.

Current Systems/practices Future Systems/Practices

1 Repeated tillage No-till/Drastically reduced till

2 Residue burning/removal Reside retention

3 Monotonous cropping Diversified cropping

4 Crop based management System based management

5 Ex-situ organic recycling In-situ organic recycling

6 Sole cropping Intercropping

7 Ad-hoc recommendation Site/location/situation specific recommendations

Source: Jat et al (2011)

• Improving nutrient use efficiency by optimizing application rates (considering spatial variability, climate etc), as well as time, placement and product use

• Methods, techniques and technologies to reduce nutrient losses

• Enhancement of mycorrhizal associations in rotation systems

• Root exploration and enhanced soil moisture profiles to maximize nutrient uptake/absorption

• Tools and decision guides for determining timing and amount of irrigation water and nutrient applications

• Nutrient use efficient genotypes

Research Gaps- General?

Research Gaps- Specific?

� Scientifically assessed Attainable Yield targets for wheat and maize under different production systems, management practices and ecologies• Cropping Systems, Tillage, Residue management• Irrigated/Rainfed scenarios

� Nutrient requirements for a target crop yield in above situations• Physiological requirement x Efficiency

� Timing of application under different scenarios• CA Systems• Water Availability

� Method of application under different scenarios• Surface application• Drilling• Band placement

Outcomes of stakeholder consultations-MAIZE, WHEAT CRP,

Launch meeting, Mexico, Jan-2012

Nutrient management R4DRecommendations at scale: farm, system, and regional levels

• Develop, validate, and bring to scale decision support tools and farmer friendly simple practices for system based SSNM for small holder precision

• Develop and deploy regional recommendations that can be distributed through ICT solutions

• Calibrating sensors for nutrients beyond N (P, K, Zinc, etc)

• Establish relationships for on-the-go remote sensing sensors and satellite remote sensing for SSNM and real time access to information using ICT tools

• Pilots on use of remote sensing and GIS for mapping fertility variability in major wheat and maize systems

• Optimizing systems: G x M interactions

• Monitoring soil quality including nutrient losses, GHG fluxes, nutrient x water interactions

• Develop and manage Databases on Nutrient management and use efficiency in maize and wheat systems: Geo-referencing/ mapping and linking to nutrient prescriptions

• Application methods (drilling, fertigation, liquid-machinery etc)

• Capacity building

Nutrient management R4D------

Policy: issues/interventions

• Revised subsidy policies: Situation-specific prioritization (e.g. connect subsidies with the adoption of new technologies)

• Govt. buy-in into improved nutrient management recommendations

• Regional allocation of fertilizer nutrients (production systems, season specific)

• Government support for the adoption of new technologies that improve nutrient use efficiency (e.g. sensors, machinery, access to remote sensing data)

A new vision and strategyto address these Challenges

WHEAT: Global Alliance for Improving Food

Security and the Livelihoods of the Resource poor in the Developing World

MAIZE: Global Alliance for Improving Food

Security and the Livelihoods of the Resource-poor in the Developing World

1. Socioeconomics and policies for maize futures

2. Sustainable intensification and income opportunities for the poor

3. Smallholder precision agriculture

4. Stress tolerant maize for the poorest

5. Towards doubling maize productivity

6. Integrated postharvest management

7. Nutritious maize

8. Seeds of discovery

9. New tools and methods for NARS and SMEs

Strategic Initiatives (SIs)

WHEAT Strategic lnitiative-2: Sustainable wheat-based systems

Equitable innovation systems to apply principles of CA

- Enhance rural livelihoods through improving system productivity & profitability

- Sequester C

- Reduce erosion & land degradation

- Improve efficiency of inputs (labour, water, energy etc)

- Adapt and mitigate climate change effects

MAIZE Strategic Initiative 2: Sustainable intensification and income opportunities in

smallholder maize-based systems

Integrated and scalable Innovation systems

- Focus on small holders

- Characterization & mapping maize systems

- Increase productivity & improve access to market

- Resilient maize systems

- Reduce emissions of GHGs

-Increase efficiency of inputs

MAIZE Strategic Initiative 3:Closing the yield gap through smallholder

precision agriculture

• Low-risk nutrient management to increase productivity and reduce soil nutrient depletion

• Optimize fertilizer use and reduce the environmental footprint

• Access to all MAIZE international public goods (IPGs)

Main Objectives

WHEAT Strategic Initiative 3:Nutrient- and water-use efficiency

Develop and disseminate novel methods, decision guides and information system that allow•smallholder irrigated wheat farmers to produce more wheat with less nutrients and water•smallholder rainfed farmers to increase yields and reduce risks of economic losses

Main Objectives