Nutrient Management Strategies for Guizhou

Initiated in 2001, this project’s objective is to track soil variability between and within villages and among village fields. These data combined with field trials and fertilizer use surveys will be used to improve fertilizer use for high yield, high benefit crop production.

The major crops grown are wheat/rapeseed-paddy rice and wheat/rapeseed-corn in upland fields. In recent years, farmers have increasingly given up planting winter wheat due to its low cash value. Results show that balanced application of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) at 150-90-150 kg N-P₂O₅-K₂O/ha significantly increased corn yield by 3,130 kg/ha (79%) compared to the zero K treatment. In the paddy, application of 150-90-220 kg/ha significantly increased rice yield by 2,040 kg/ha (32%) compared to its corresponding zero P treatment. It is clear from these treatments that the region’s upland soils are extremely K deficient while its paddy soils are very P responsive. Subsequent field harvest days and field inspections by leaders are leading to less reliance on N and increased P and K use.

This technology can be extended to 630,000 ha of corn in Guizhou Province. The estimated potential for increased P₂O₅ and K₂O use per year on corn alone could reach 6,000 and 15,000 t, respectively. Guizhou-NMS 05