Nutrient Management and Balanced Fertilization on Major Crops in Jilin Province

This study was conducted to validate Nutrient Expert® (NE)-based fertilizer recommendations for spring maize in farmer fields and compare them with farmer fertilizer practice (FFP). Twenty-six (26) on-farm experiments were conducted in four different villages in Gongzhuling city, Jilin province. NE-based fertilizer recommendation plots received, on average, 150-57-69 kg N-P₂O₅-K₂O/ha, respectively, while FFP plots received an average of 203-107-92 kg N-P₂O₅-K₂O/ha, respectively.

Results from the second year of the study showed that grain yield (12.3 t/ha) and profit (US$3,534/ha) obtained in NE-based treatments were similar to those obtained in the FFP, where the corresponding values were 12.1 t/ha and $3,374/ha. However, significantly higher agronomic efficiency of N (17 kg/kg) and partial factor productivity of N (83 kg/kg) were obtained using NE-based fertilizer recommendations than using FFP, where the corresponding values were 12 kg/kg and 63 kg/kg, respectively. Also, 26% less fertilizer N was used in the NE-based treatment than that used in the FFP. Thus, results of this study demonstrated the promise of NE tool as a viable alternative to soil testing for making fertilizer recommendations. Jilin-NMBF