Nutrient Management for Higher Productivity of Swarna Sub1 Under Flash Floods Areas

Two field experiments were conducted at Regional Agricultural Research Station, Tarahara, Nepal during 2012 and 2013 to determine the effect of agronomic management on growth and yield of Swarna Sub1 under flash floods. The first experiment was laid out in a split plot design with three replications; and four different nutrient combinations at nursery as main plots and three age groups of rice seedlings as sub plots. The second experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design and replicated thrice; with three post flood nutrient doses at six and 12 days after de-submergence (dad). The experiments were complete submerged at 10 days after transplanting for 12 days. The survival percentage, at 21 dad, was significantly higher in plots planted with 35 (90.25%) and 40 (91.58%) days-old seedlings compared to 30 days-old seedlings (81.75%). Plots with 35 days-old seedlings produced 5.15 t ha-1 with advantage of 18.83% over 30 days-old seedlings. Plots with 100-50-50 kg N-P2O5-K2O/ha at nursery recorded the highest grain filling of 79.41% and grain yield of 5.068 t/ha with more benefit. Post flood application of 20-20 N-K20kg/ha at 6 dad resulted in higher plant survival and taller plants, leading to significantly higher grain yield of 5.183 t/ha and straw yield of 5.315 t/ha. Hence, 35-40 days old seedlings raised with 100-50-50 kg N-P2O5-K2O /ha in nursery and the additional application of20-20 kg N-K2O /ha at 6 dad improved plant survival and enhanced yield of Swarna Sub1 under flash flood conditions. The practice has prospects of saving crop loss with getting rice yield above national average yield leading to enhanced food security in the flood prone areas of Nepal

Modelling Phosphorus for Grassland: Agronomically and Environmentally Sustainable Advice

End of project reportIn 2006, the Nitrates Directive (through S.I. 378 (Anon, 2006)) was implemented in Ireland, aimed at reducing nutrient losses from agriculture to water bodies, i.e. surface waters, groundwater and estuarine waters. This legislation introduced strict regulation of nutrient management on Irish farms. Thus far, nutrient management had largely been based on Teagasc advice (Coulter, 2004). However, in the new policy climate, in addition to advice, compliance with legal limits is also required. This significant change in the practicalities surrounding nutrient management led to a review of Teagasc nutrient (phosphorus and nitrogen) advice, based on the following considerations: Traditionally, nutrient advice had largely been based on fertiliser rates for economically optimal productivity, i.e. rates at which further fertiliser applications would not result in higher economic returns. Now, SI 378 of 2006 demands that nutrient application rates do not exceed crop (grass) demand, nor result in nutrient losses that may have a negative impact on water quality. Previous phosphorus (P) advice (Coulter, 2004) was similar for all soil types, and did not account for potentially different P-requirements, or indeed potentially different risks of P-loss to water between soils. Previous P advice was based on returning optimum crop yields. However, grassland management in Ireland is increasingly focussed on maximising the amount of herbage grazed in situ. With extended grazing seasons and an increasing share of the animal diet consisting of grazed herbage, the scope and flexibility of diet supplementation through straights and concentrates is reduced. An increasing proportion of dietary P must be obtained from this grazed herbage as a result. Therefore P fertiliser strategies should no longer be based on yield responses alone, but in addition sustain adequate herbage P-concentrations in order to ensure that the dietary P requirements can be met on a non-supplemented diet of grazed herbage. Against this background, Teagasc, Johnstown Castle Environment Research Centre, undertook a major research programme, reviewing both agronomic and environmental aspects of P-advice for grassland

Nutrient Management Approaches and Tools for Dairy Farms in Australia and the U.S.

Nutrient surpluses in industrialized nations like the U.S. and Australia are causing problems on dairy farms and posing a threat to the rest of the environment. This paper discusses tools that dairy farmers can use to manage the excess nutrients while continuing to meet demands and profit. The authors suggest improvements in these tools that will not only quantify the amount of nutrient balances on dairy farms, but also identify opportunities for enhanced nutrient use and reduced nutrient losses.Nutrient Management Tools, Australian Dairy Farms, U.S. Dairy Farms, Confinement-based Dairy Operations, Grazing-based Diary Operations, Environmental Economics and Policy, Farm Management, Land Economics/Use,

MARYLAND'S REGULATORY APPROACH TO NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT

Environmental Economics and Policy,

Learning in context – improved nutrient management in arable cropping systems through participatory research

Participatory research (PR) provides opportunities to build knowledge relevant to site-specific farms conditions. This study used a PR approach to develop nutrient management strategies in stockless organic farming. A thorough problem identification process was carried out and the problem prioritised was how to combine preceding crop effects with fertilisation strategy in crop rotations. On-farm fertiliser (biogas digestion residues, chicken manure and meat-bone meal) experiments were conducted in spring wheat and winter rapeseed. Significant yield responses were achieved in spring wheat, up to 1200 kg ha-1, and they were higher than in rapeseed. The implications of the results for nutrient management at crop rotation level are discussed

Fundamentals of Nutrient Management: Why Nutrient Replacement is Essential in Organic and all Agriculture

There is a belief, going back to the foundation of organic agriculture, that nutrient replacement, i.e., the use of ‘fertilisers’, within organic agriculture is not required. Scientific theories and laws as well as practical farming evidence, now conclusively shows that this belief is incorrect, and nutrient replacement / cycling is essential for all forms of agriculture including organic. This paper is an explanation of why nutrient replacement / cycling is essential, starting at the most fundamental levels of the physical laws of nature, progressively building a holistic / systems based view of the behaviour of nutrients, and also energy, in farm systems and the biosphere as a whole. While such a view may at first appear overly detailed, even irrelevant to agriculture, one of the primary keys to the success of scientific understanding is the ability to create a theoretical understanding with precise predictive power. Much of agriculture is based in the complex sciences of biology and ecology where random processes prevent theoretical explanation and prediction i.e., much of agricultural science is empirical. Nutrient management is one of the few areas of agriculture where fundamental physics, even at the sub-atomic level, can penetrate right through the noise of biological systems to directly inform the actions of farmers. Empowered by such understanding farmers have the ability to fully understand the fundamentals of nutrient management and make better informed decisions about their own practices. Such a holistic perspective also ‘shines a light’ on the unsustainability of nutrient management in ‘industrial’ agriculture and the wider human societies of which it is the foundation, as well as reiterating the solutions that have been known for two centuries

Reducing the external environmental costs of pastoral farming in New Zealand: experiences from the Te Arawa lakes, Rotorua

Decades of nutrient pollution have caused water quality to decline in the nationally iconic Te Arawa (Rotorua) lakes in New Zealand. Pastoral agriculture is a major nutrient source, and therefore this degradation represents an external environmental cost to intensive farming. This cost is borne by the wider community, and a major publically funded remediation programme is now under way. This article describes the range of actions being taken to reduce nutrient loads from internal (lake bed sediments) and external (primarily diffuse) sources in the lake catchments. The high economic cost and uncertain efficacy of engineering-based actions to reduce internal nutrient loads is highlighted. Major changes to land management practices to control diffuse nutrient pollution are required throughout New Zealand if the need for costly and lengthy remediation programmes elsewhere is to be avoided. More action to educate farmers and the public about eutrophication issues, development and enforcement of environmental standards, and further consideration of the use of market-based instruments are proposed as ways to correct the current market failure

IMPORTANCE OF COST OFFSETS FOR DAIRY FARMS MEETING A NUTRIENT APPLICATION STANDARD

The Environmental Protection Agency requires concentrated animal feeding operations to develop and implement a comprehensive nutrient management plan. Changes in manure management to meet nutrient application standards will generally increase production costs. Some of these costs can be offset by savings from replacing commercial fertilizer with manure nutrients, and through financial assistance programs such as the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). A manure application cost model was used to examine the costs to confined dairy farms of meeting nutrient application standards, and the ability of fertilizer offsets and EQIP to reduce these costs.Environmental Economics and Policy,

DETERMINANTS OF SOIL NUTRIENT BALANCES AND IMPLICATIONS FOR ADDRESSING LAND DEGRADATION AND POVERTY IN UGANDA

A regression model was used to investigate the determinants of soil nutrient depletion in Uganda. The major determinants of soil nutrient balances are household endowments, access to markets, and extension services, non-farm activities and agricultural potential. The results suggest the need to address soil nutrient depletion using multi-sectoral approaches.Farm Management,