Global Maize Project in India: Ranchi, Jharkhand - Site Specific Nutrient Management in Maize-Wheat cropping system in Ranchi, Jharkhand
IPNI-2009-IND-GM22
23 Feb 2010
2009 Annual Interpretive Summary
This project was initiated to optimize nutrient management for improved productivity within the maize-wheat cropping system. 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 Jharkhand. 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.
Significant yield differences were observed between treatments in the first season of maize. However, yield levels were lower than expected due to an in-season hailstorm and subsequent yield loss. The yield under FP was found to be 1.4 t/ha lower than the current EI treatment. In all experiments, N was found to be most limiting, leading to a yield loss of 3 to 3.5 t/ha when N was omitted from the fertilization schedule. The yield loss due to omission of P and K, as compared to the optimum treatment, was in the range of 0.7 to 0.9 t/ha at an optimum yield level of 4.6 t/ha. One season of field data from the maize experiment showed that 160 kg N/ha split between three applications (basal, crown root initiation, and panicle initiation stages) produced the highest yields. Treatment-wise soil and plant samples are currently being analyzed to assess nutrient uptake in maize and residual soil fertility. IPNI-22