Agronomic, economic, social and environmental benefits of improved nutrient management practices in maize production systems under variable farm size, climate, soil fertility conditions and farmer resource endowment in Telangana, India.
A study was undertaken with the scientists of PJTSAU considering the following objectives. 1. To determine farmer typologies through implementation of rapid rural surveys in maize growing ecologies of Telangana. 2. To determine the impact of farmer resource availability on native soil fertility in variable maize growing environment 3. To determine the agronomic and economic impact of nutrient management in smallholder maize systems under contrasting tillage situations using ex-ante and on-farm assessment using Nutrient Expert 4. To provide options for maize intensification in different farmer typologies through Nutrient Expert based Site Specific Nutrient Management strategies 5. To train NARS, NAES, and industry partners in the application of NE to develop site-specific precision nutrient management recommendations suitable for all farm typologies in the study domain.
IPNI-2015-IND-532
2015 Annual Interpretive Summary
A study was undertaken to determine the integrated effect of both biophysical characteristics of farms and socio-economic factors of farmers on farmers' decisions for improved nutrient management to achieve improved productivity and profitability in smallholder systems of maize cultivation in Telangana. A rapid rural survey was conducted in two established (Karimangar and Medak) and two emerging (Nizamabad and Mahabubnagar) maize-growing districts, considering the criteria of area under maize cultivation, prevailing yield levels, and access to water (irrigated or rainfed situations). Three villages in each district were chosen and 15 maize farmers in each village were selected for a detailed survey through systematic sampling. The farmers were interviewed on socio-economic profile, farm profile, farm asset inventory, crop management practices, maize production related problems, soil resource use, and water resource use.
In the established maize-growing districts, grain yield varied from 6.25 to 10.0 t/ha with a mean yield of 7.4 t/ha in district Karimnagar, whereas in Medak district, the grain yield ranged from 2.5 to 7.0 t/ha with an average yield of 4.9 t/ha. In Karimnagar, the yield of maize was significantly and positively correlated with the age of farmers and farm income, whereas, negatively and significantly correlated with the non-farm income, which probably confirms that experience of farmers and investment from farm income helped in getting higher maize yields in Karimnagar. Similarly, in the emerging districts, maize yield in Nizamabad averaged 6.8 t/ha and ranged from 6.0 to 7.5 t/ha, whereas, maize yield in Mahabubnagar averaged 2.9 t/ha and ranged from 1.2 to 6.25 t/ha, registering the lowest maize yield among the four districts considered under the study. Maize grain yield was negatively and significantly correlated with the age of the farmers in Nizamabad and Mahabubnagar. The average age of farmers in Nizamabad was 41 (ranged from 24 to 70) and the average yield of maize was the second largest (6.8 t/ha, next to Karimnagar), indicating that the young farmers in the district contributed to higher maize yield in Nizamabad. In Mahabubnagar, the average age of the farmer was 45 and the average maize yield was 2.9 t/ha. The negative correlation between yield and farmer age probably indicated that the older farmers were associated with maize growing and there is a need to encourage young farmers to get involved in farming for improving the productivity of maize in Mahabubnagar.
From the study, information on maize yield variability and the extent of nutrient use were determined in addition to identifying the major socio-economic factors responsible for higher maize yields in the study region.