Transfer, Evaluation and Dissemination of an Innovative Fertilizer Management Tool (Nutrient Expert®) for increasing crop yields and farmers’ income in Eastern Nepal

The current project was initiated to assess the Nutrient Expert^® (NE) for Maize, Wheat and Rice in the Eastern Terai region of Nepal for improving yield and profitability of farmers through site-specific nutrient management. Two villages in Jhapa DIstrict (Gauradaha and Dhukurpani-Damak) and two villages in Morang District (Itahara and Babiya Birta) of Nepal were chosen for the current study. The soils of the area are slightly acidic, with low to medium organic carbon content. The available soil N and P concentrations are low to medium, while most soils are low in available K. Zinc deficiency was observed in some locations of the study area. The trials on maize and wheat were set up in November 2014 in 201 farmers’ fields in the above two districts. Each trial consisted of three treatments: 1) farmer’s fertilizer practice, 2) government fertilizer recommendation, and 3) NE-based recommendation. The first treatment was totally managed by farmers with their own practice while the second was as per government fertilizer recommendation in terms of amount and timing of fertilizer application. The third treatment was project’s intervention and was aimed at field-specific nutrient application through use of the Nutrient Expert^® tool. The maize and wheat crops will be harvested in April 2015, followed by setting up similar trials using the NE-Rice.