Assessment of Agronomic and Economic Benefits of Fertilizer Use in Maize Production Systems under Variable Farm Size, Climate and Soil Fertility Conditions in Odisha

Maize is gaining popularity among the farmers of Odisha, but productivity is very low in the state mainly due to improper input management, particularly nutrients. Small farm size, variable farmer management practices, lack of appropriate fertilizer recommendations tailored to farm size with consideration of small-farmer resources are some of the other constraints holding back the attainment of potential maize yields in the state. A study aimed at delineating current practices based on land holding, annual income, and crop yields was carried out to develop farmer resource-based fertilizer recommendations and ensure better adoption of improved nutrient management for higher crop yields and profit. Two districts (Navarangpur and Kalahandi) in Odisha were chosen with distinct maize growing environments and farmer resource availability. Two blocks in each district and three villages in each block were chosen for the survey considering variability criteria of yield gap, soil type, growing seasons, farmer holdings etc.

The survey revealed that >70% farmers in Odisha are literate, farm families are less dependent on off-farm income and involvement of labor from households is quite low. Categorization of farmers based on farm size and annual income to assess comparative differences in resource availability revealed that a majority of farmers with <1 ha holding fall in the lowest income group (< INR 50,000/yr). The assessment of the quantity of fertilizer used by farmers revealed that farmers' risk perception plays an important role in nutrient management of maize. In Navarangpur district, higher quantities of fertilizer are used in winter maize, grown under irrigated conditions because it's relatively risk free and farmers often harvest nearly 8 to 10 t/ha of maize grain. Besides market access, price of grain commodities also influenced farmers’ fertilizer use. Farmers growing irrigated winter maize in areas with good market access usually had better access to knowledge and inputs such as hybrid seeds, fertilizer, plant protection chemicals etc. through government and private industry extension services that allowed them to achieve relatively higher yields. This study also suggested that nutrient management interventions need to be directed towards (a) optimizing nutrient management for the lower income group of farmers and (b) providing guidance to improve maize yields of higher income group of farmers through appropriate use of nutrients. Currently, Nutrient Expert®, a decision support tool that provides site-specific fertilizer recommendations, is being used to provide appropriate resource-based farmer fertilizer recommendations. Additional field experiments are in progress to demonstrate the agronomic and economic benefits of appropriate fertilizer use.