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
17 Mar 2010
Project Description
Maize, owing to its efficient utilization of radiant energy and fixation of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, is considered as one of the major high yielding crops of the world. In India, maize is considered as the third most important food grain crop and in the recent past, the production of maize has gained considerable importance primarily due to its greater demand for feed ingredient in the poultry industry besides its less water demanding nature than any other crops. In the poultry sector, approximately, 7-8 million tonnes of maize is needed representing over 50 per cent of India's total annual maize production. In many parts of India, the supply of maize for use in poultry feed is becoming a problem and thus, maize production needs to be increased significantly in the coming years. In Southern India, maize is considered as a non-traditional crop and there is a tremendous potential for maize in this region owing to increasing demand in the poultry industry. Farmers in this region are substituting maize for traditional crops such as rice wherever there is a drop in the water table due to over use of water by rice crop.
The annual maize production of the country is about 19.3 million tons with an annual growth rate of three to four per cent. Maize yields need to be increased significantly to sustain this growth rate and there is a need to further increase the productivity of maize to efficiently meet India’s growing food, feed, and industrial needs. It has been observed that the average maize yields in India are much lower than its attainable yields. One of the key factors responsible for low yields is inadequate and improper fertilization. Current fertilizer recommendations are sub-optimal for achieving maximum economic yields for new varieties and hybrids being used by farmers these days. Also, fertilizers are not applied when maize crop needs it the most. Many studies have pointed out that the nutrient removal in maize is more than nutrient supply through various sources, which has led to decline in soil fertility in maize growing areas. Thus, there is ample opportunity to improve maize yields through site-specific nutrient management (SSNM) . Also, there is a need to evaluate SSNM in maize in a systems perspective because of an obvious lack of studies in this regard. Therefore the present studies on "Site Specific Nutrient Management in Maize-Wheat cropping system in Northern Karnataka" have been undertaken at Dharwar as a network center of Global Maize project with the following objectives:
1. Quantify and understand the yield potential of maize-wheat cropping system
2. Compare different N management strategies for yield, profitability, and environmental impact
3. Develop a scientific approach for SSNM in Northern Karnataka and evaluate the agronomic and economic performance of SSNM
4. Assess short-term and long-term effects of intensive maize production on productivity, environmental impact, profitability, and cropping system sustainability
5. Disseminate simplified SSNM recommendations using simple and practical tools and approaches
Technical programme of work:
The project includes the following 3- experiments under maize-wheat cropping system.
A. Long-term system evaluation of ecologically intensified system and farmers’ practice in maize-wheat cropping system
B. Effect of nitrogen rate, time of application and real-time nitrogen management on Productivity of maize-wheat cropping system.
C. Estimation of indigenous nutrient supplying capacity of soils to evaluate an alternate approach of plant based SSNM.
Treatments and experimental design:
Experiment A
Long-term system evaluation of ecologically intensified system and farmers’ practice in maize-wheat cropping system
Main Plots: Fertiliser practices
M1 - Farmers’ Fertilizer Practices (FP)
M2 - Ecological Intensification (EI)
Sub-plots: Nitrogen application
S1 – With Nitrogen
S2– With out Nitrogen
Design: Split plot Replications: 3
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N application: 50% as basal and 50% at V10 growth stage. |
N application: 50% as basal and 50% at CRI growth stage. |
Experiment B
Effect of nitrogen rate, time of application and real-time nitrogen management on productivity of maize-wheat cropping system.
For Hybrid Maize:
Factor I – Nitrogen levels (4)
N1 – 00 kg/ha
N2 – 80 kg/ha
N3 – 160 kg/ha
N4 – 240 kg/ha
Factor II – Time of nitrogen application (3)
T1 : 33% basal + 33% V4 to V6 + 33% V10
T2 : 33% basal + 33% V4 to V6 + 33% V10 (Rate as per LCC)
T3 : 50% basal + 00 % V4 to V6 + 50% V10
Common dose of P and K : 100 kg/ha P2O5 and 100 kg/ha K2O; Treatment T2 will also receive extra N one week before tasseling, if LCC reading is low.
For Wheat crop:
Factor I – Nitrogen levels (4)
N1 – 0 kg/ha
N2 – 50 kg/ha
N3 – 100 kg/ha
N4 – 150 kg/ha
Factor II – Time of nitrogen application (3)
T1 : 33% as basal + 33% at CRI + 33% at Panicle Initiation (PI)
T2 : 33% as basal + 33% at CRI + 33% at PI (Rate as per LCC)
T3 : 50% as basal + 50% at CRI
Common dose of P and K : 90 kg/ha P2O5 and 80 kg/ha K2O; Design: Factorial RBD Replications: 3
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Nitrogen as per treatment |
Nitrogen as per treatment |
Experiment C:
Estimation of indigenous nutrient supplying capacity of soils to evaluate an alternate approach of plant-based SSNM (Nutrients omission plots- QUEFTS calibration)
Treatments :
A. For Hybrid Maize crop
T1: (NPK): 250: 120: 120 kg/ha
T2: (– N): 0: 120: 120 kg/ha NPK
T3: (– P): 250: 0: 120 kg/ha NPK
T4: (– K): 250: 120: 0 kg/ha NPK
T5: (SSNM): 200: 90: 100 kg/ha NPK
B. For Wheat crop
T1: NPK: 150: 110: 100 kg/ha
T2: (– N): 00: 110: 100 kg/ha NPK
T3: (–P): 150: 00: 100 kg/ha NPK
T4: (– K): 150: 110: 00 kg/ha NPK
T5: (SSNM): 120: 60: 50 kg/ha NPK
Design: RBD Replications: 3
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