Nutrient Expert Development and Assessment

Implemented since 2011, the objectives of this project are 1) to evaluate through local partners the Nutrient Expert^(R) for Hybrid Maize (NEHM) in farmers’ fields in Indonesia and the Philippines, and 2) to develop, test, and refine new versions of NEHM for maize in new geographies (i.e., China, South Asia and Africa) and NE for wheat in China and South Asia, and 3) to develop NE for rice-based cropping systems in China and India.

NEHM has been adapted for maize-growing conditions in South Asia, China and Africa. NE for Wheat has been developed for South Asia and China and released after two years of field-testing and evaluation by IPNI and local partners. Field validation of a beta version of NE maize for sub-Saharan Africa is ongoing. NE recommendations are tested against local recommendations and farmer’s fertilizer practices (FFP).

Field evaluations of NE maize in Indonesia and the Philippines since 2010 showed increased yield and economic benefits over current FFP. In the Philippines, NE maize has been updated to include open-pollinated and traditional varieties where the algorithm was developed using data from on-farm trials of SSNM white corn. In India, field evaluation of NE maize (n = 412) has increased yield by 1.27 t/ha and gross profit by US$256/ha with substantial increase in K application (+22 kg K₂O/ha). NE wheat in India (n=701) increased yield by 0.79 t/ha and gross profit by US$163 with increased application of K (+54 kg K₂O/ha) and comparable N and P over FFP. Both NE wheat and NE maize also performed better than local recommendations in India. In China, NE maize (n = 541) and NE wheat (n = 290) slightly increased yields and economic benefits over FFP and showed comparable yield and economic benefits with local recommendation. Compared with FFP and local recommendations, NE reduced N application rates in both maize and wheat by 20 to 40%. NE increased K application over FFP by about 50% in both maize and wheat. Field validated versions (Version 1.0) of NE maize and NE wheat are available at software.ipni.net. Ongoing field validation of NE Maize in Zimbabwe, NE Rice in China and India, and NE Soybean in China indicate positive results.

NE has been demonstrated to increase yield and profit of farmers in India, Indonesia and the Philippines and increased fertilizer N use efficiency in China through tailored balanced nutrient management.