Global Maize Project in India: Dharwad, Karnataka - Site Specific Nutrient Management in Maize-Wheat cropping system in Northern Karnataka

This project was initiated to assess the short and long term effects of ecological intensification of maize production on productivity, environmental impact, and profitability of farmers growing maize in Northern Karnataka. This project also helps in understanding the yield potential of maize based cropping system in the region and helps develop long-term nutrient management strategies for sustaining improved maize productivity in the region.

IPNI-2009-IND-GM35

25 Mar 2010

2009 Annual Interpretive Summary


This project was initiated to optimize nutrient management for improved productivity within the maize-wheat cropping system of this region. The working objective includes a quantitative estimation of the attainable yield potential of maize and wheat from a system perspective, estimation of the indigenous nutrient supplying capacity of soils, and using such information to develop a strategy of nutrient management to maximize system productivity. Different N management strategies for timing and rate are being assessed in the cropping system to provide additional input for developing a scientific approach for nutrient management in Karnataka. The strategies developed will be evaluated for both agronomic and economic performance and will help assess short-term and long-term effects of intensive maize-wheat production systems from a nutrient management perspective.

The experimental design for maize and wheat incorporates three sub-experiments that run simultaneously for: Experiment A) long-term system evaluation of an ecologically intensified (EI) system and farmers’ practice (FP) in maize-wheat; Experiment B) studying the effect of N rate and timing and real-time N management on productivity of maize-wheat; and Experiment C) estimation of indigenous nutrient supplying capacity of soils to evaluate an alternate approach of plant-based, site-specific nutrient management. The results from experiment B and C will be utilized to continuously improve the EI treatment in experiment A for the development of guidelines of best management practices.

Data have been collected from the experiments and are currently being analyzed. IPNI-23