Development and Validation of Nutrient Expert for Maize in Bangladesh

The project was initiated to develop and validate the Nutrient Expert for Maize, a site specific fertilizer recommendation tool for maize, in different maize growing areas of Bangladesh. The results from the validation trial is expected to improve the output of the tool and help the extension agencies to provide improved nutrient recommendation to farmers.

IPNI-2013-BGD-7

The association between agro-ecological zones (AEZs), indigenous soil fertility (ISF) and maize yield responses to fertilizer application was insufficiently characterized in the eastern Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP) of South Asia. This has constrained the development of precision nutrient management recommendations in maize that aim to optimize nutrient use, increase yield and farm profits, while simultaneously reducing environmental footprints of agricultural nutrient use in the region. Read more


Year of initiation:2013
Year of completion:2013
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Interpretive Summary

The association between agro-ecological zones (AEZs), indigenous soil fertility (ISF) and maize yield responses to fertilizer application was insufficiently characterized in the eastern Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP) of South Asia. This has constrained the development of precision nutrient management recommendations in maize that aim to optimize nutrient use, increase yield and farm profits, while simultaneously reducing environmental footprints of agricultural nutrient use in the region.

In South Asia, most nutrient management recommendations for maize and rice are derived from static soil test results and/or agroecological zoning recommendations that do not consider the dynamic nature of soil nutrient supply. The current work represents an initial-step towards developing site-specific nutrient management (SSNM) recommendations for maize in Bangladesh, through the Maize Crop Manager and Nutrient Expert® for Maize decision support tools.

Nutrient Expert® (NE), a fertilizer decision support tool for hybrid maize in Bangladesh, was developed for easy implementation of site-specific nutrient management (SSNM) strategies in farmer fields. The tool was evaluated in Rabi (winter) season in various districts of Bangladesh against existing farmer nutrient management practices to assess the robustness of the tool in different maize growing regions.

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