Best Management Practices for Sustainable Crop Nutrition in Bulgaria
IPNI-2008-BGR-1
16 Mar 2010
2009 Annual Interpretive Summary
In 2008, a 5-year project was established in Bulgaria with the general goal of improving cultivation systems in Bulgaria’s agriculture through efficient and sustainable use of plant nutrients. The project involves five Bulgarian organizations: The University of Forestry, Agricultural University, Nikola Poushkarov Institute of Soil Science, Executive Soil Resources Agency (Ministry of Agriculture), and the National Plant Protection Service (Ministry of Agriculture). Project activities include: 1) Evaluation of soil nutrient status through summarization of past national soil surveys and more recent localized regional surveys; 2) Systematic summarization of past relevant soil fertility research, existing nutrient uptake and removal information for target crops, and identification of information gaps; 3) Conduct of field nutrient omission plot trials on target crops; 4) Development of tools for site-specific nutrient management that incorporate the national soil survey GIS and other project results into nutrient management software for delivering updated recommendations to farmers and farmer advisers; 5) Outreach activities to assure appropriate use of the developed tools.
To date, past soil test surveys have been processed and historical cadastral units have been transferred to the current land identification system allowing identification of pilot regions from which new data are needed. A database was structured for past soil fertility research and to accommodate new project data. In 2009, 27 omission plot trials (NPK or NPKMg as complete treatments) were conducted of which 22were harvested and 5 were abandoned due to unfavorable weather conditions (freezing or drought). Crops tested were wheat, barley, maize, sunflower, potato, tomato, pepper, apricots, peaches, chokeberry, and wine grapes. Out of 22 trials, yield increases to application of N, P, or K were 10% or greater at 13, 9, and 10 sites, respectively. Quality parameters are also being measured for the food crops and some differences were measured in 2009. However, additional site-years will be required before these data can be interpreted. IPNI-14