Nutrient Expert Development and Assessment

This project aims to (1) develop, test, and refine new versions of Nutrient Expert (NE) for new crops and new geographies in Asia and Africa, (2) conduct field trials and build agronomic database for non-cereal crops (e.g. cotton, cassava), and (3) initiate development of ICT based tools to help in the dissemination of the field validated versions of NE.

IPNI-2010-GBL-52

10 Jan 2013

2012 Annual Interpretive Summary


This study was initiated to evaluate the Nutrient Expert® (NE) for Hybrid Maize (NEHM) in farmers’ fields in Indonesia and the Philippines, and to develop, test and refine new versions of NE for maize in China, India, and Africa and NE for wheat in China and India. At the end of 2012, NEHM recommendations have been field tested against existing fertilizer management practices in 534 farmers’ fields or locations. In 129 fields in Indonesia and Philippines, NE increased average maize yield by 1.1 t/ha and profit by US$280/ha/crop with moderate increases in fertilizer P (11 kg P2O5/ha) and K (18 kg K2O/ha) over farmer's fertilizer practice (FFP). In 82 field trials in India, NE again increased average maize yield by 1.1 t/ha and profit by $259/ha/crop with lower fertilizer applications (37 kg N, 62 kg P2O5 and 39 kg K2O lower than the fertilizer rates applied under FFP). In 323 field experiments in China, maize yields with NE were comparable with both FFP and local recommendations (OPT), but NE helped reduce fertilizer N application quite significantly (72 kg N/ha and 52 kg N/ha lower than fertilizer rates applied under FFP and OPT, respectively). This also helped in increasing profits over the existing fertilizer management practices by $94/ha over FFP and $145/ha over OPT in China.

For NE with Wheat, field validation trials were conducted at 218 locations in China and at 186 locations in India. In India, NE increased wheat yield by 1.2 t/ha and profit by $289/ha with increased fertilizer K application (+67 kg K2O/ha over the FFP), while the corresponding figures over the state recommendation were +0.44 t/ha and +$96/ha, respectively. In China, wheat yields with NE were comparable with yields under FFP, but profit under NE was higher than under FFP by $132/ha/crop. Compared with the OPT, NE wheat showed comparable yields and profits. However, fertilizer N application rates were significantly lower with NE wheat than with FFP (by 113 kg N/ha) and OPT (by 73 kg/ha). NE wheat also reduced fertilizer P rates by 36 kg P2O5/ha and 30 kg P2O5/ha over FFP and OPT, respectively. Fertilizer K application rate, on the other hand, was higher with NE wheat by 19 kg K2O/ha over FFP but was comparable with OPT. Chinese translations of the beta versions of NE maize and NE wheat are ready and NE maize for India has been updated. NE maize and NE wheat for India have also been field validated. A beta version of NE maize for Africa (Kenya and Zimbabwe) has been completed, while a beta version of NE maize for Bangladesh is ready for field validation. IPNI-52