Nutrient Management Strategies for Guangdong

Initiated in 2002, this project is tracking soil variability between and within villages and among village fields. These data, combined with other information from field trials and fertilizer use surveys will be applied to improve fertilizer use for high yield, high benefit crop production.

The locations selected represent commercial vegetable and banana plantation regions in Guangdong. Soil testing for the vegetable region showed that soils were severely deficient in nitrogen (N), magnesium (Mg), and boron (B), and moderately deficient in potassium (K), calcium (Ca), iron (Fe), and zinc (Zn). Preliminary field research showed that balanced fertilization with 200-102-266 kg N-P₂O₅-K₂O/ha significantly increased cucumber yield by 11.2 t/ha (34%), compared with the local practice of applying triple-15 (150-150-150 kg/ha N-P₂O₅-K₂O). The traditional nutrient recommendation does not fit either the soil nutrient status or nutrient demands of the crop. More field trials will be conducted next year to verify soil testing results and to generate a more precise nutrient management recommendation. Guang-NMS02