Nutrient Management and Optimized Fertilization on Maize in Heilongjiang Province

Nutrient Expert (NE) is a new, computer-based decision support tool developed to assist local experts to formulate fertilizer guidelines for maize (corn) in real-time, and is based on the principles of site-specific nutrient management (SSNM). This tool comes in handy, especially when soil testing facilities are not easily accessible, which makes timely fertilizer recommendations difficult. This study was conducted to validate NE-based fertilizer recommendations for spring maize in farmer fields and compare them with farmer fertilizer practice (FFP). For this, twenty six (26) on-farm experiments were conducted in four different counties in Heilongjiang province. NE-based fertilizer recommendation plots received 156 kg N, 57 kg P₂O₅, and 75 kg K₂O/ha, on average, while farmer fertilizer practice (FFP) plots received an average of 185 kg N, 66 kg P₂O₅, 51 kg K₂O.

Grain yield (8.4 t/ha) and profit (USD 1,735/ha) were higher in NE-based treatments than in the FFP, where corresponding values were 8.2 t/ha and USD 1,667/ha. Also, higher agronomic (14.5 kg/kg) and recovery (32.3%) efficiencies of N were obtained using NE-based fertilizer recommendations than using FFP, where corresponding values were 11.2 kg/kg and 26.6%. The NE-based treatment used 15.7% less fertilizer N than that used in the FFP. Thus, the first year results of this study showed a good promise for NE-based fertilizer recommendations to extend to farmers. Heilongjiang-NMBF