Inadequate and/or imbalanced fertilization has been identified as one of the critical bottlenecks holding oilseeds production and productivity. Sustainable production requires efficient use of inputs maintaining optimum yield and high quality product. The present study aims at defining the quantitative relationship between the fertilizer S applied and the sunflower yield obtained using a polynomial function. The analysis was done to allocate the S fertilizer for maximization of net profit over fertilizer cost depending on the availability of the fertilizer. The results indicated that the cost effective economically optimum dose of sulphur for sunflower cultivation was found to be 36.70 kg S/ha under its full availability. The expected sunflower yield at this dose was worked out to be 2.619 t/ha. However, it is advisable to uniformly distribute the fertilizer to all over the cultivable area under its limited availability for exploiting the desired yield potential and maximum net monetary returns

O. P. Sheoran

Parvender Sheoran

Virender Sardana

International Journal of Agronomy

English

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Modeling Sunflower Productivity and Profitability in Relation to Adequate and Limited Sulphur Availability under Semiarid Irrigated Conditions

Inadequate and/or imbalanced fertilization has been identified as one of the critical bottlenecks holding oilseeds production and productivity. Sustainable production requires efficient use of inputs maintaining optimum yield and high quality product. The present study aims at defining the quantitative relationship between the fertilizer S applied and the sunflower yield obtained using a polynomial function. The analysis was done to allocate the S fertilizer for maximization of net profit over fertilizer cost depending on the availability of the fertilizer. The results indicated that the cost effective economically optimum dose of sulphur for sunflower cultivation was found to be 36.70 kg S/ha under its full availability. The expected sunflower yield at this dose was worked out to be 2.619 t/ha. However, it is advisable to uniformly distribute the fertilizer to all over the cultivable area under its limited availability for exploiting the desired yield potential and maximum net monetary returns.</jats:p

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Hindawi Publishing CorporationInternational Journal of AgronomyVolume 2013, Article ID 738263, 4 pageshttp://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2013/738263Research ArticleModeling Sunflower Productivity and Profitability inRelation to Adequate and Limited Sulphur Availability underSemiarid Irrigated ConditionsParvender Sheoran,1,2 O. P. Sheoran,3 and Virender Sardana11 Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana-141 004, Punjab, India2Oilseeds Section, Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, CCS HAU, Hisar, Haryana 125 004, India3 Computer Section, CCS HAU, Hisar-125 004, Haryana, IndiaCorrespondence should be addressed to Parvender Sheoran; sheoran76@rediffmail.comReceived 7 March 2013; Revised 30 May 2013; Accepted 30 May 2013Academic Editor: Rodomiro OrtizCopyright © 2013 Parvender Sheoran et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons AttributionLicense, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properlycited.Inadequate and/or imbalanced fertilization has been identified as one of the critical bottlenecks holding oilseeds production andproductivity. Sustainable production requires efficient use of inputs maintaining optimum yield and high quality product. Thepresent study aims at defining the quantitative relationship between the fertilizer S applied and the sunflower yield obtained using apolynomial function. The analysis was done to allocate the S fertilizer for maximization of net profit over fertilizer cost dependingon the availability of the fertilizer. The results indicated that the cost effective economically optimum dose of sulphur for sunflowercultivation was found to be 36.70 kg S/ha under its full availability. The expected sunflower yield at this dose was worked out to be2.619 t/ha. However, it is advisable to uniformly distribute the fertilizer to all over the cultivable area under its limited availabilityfor exploiting the desired yield potential and maximum net monetary returns.1. IntroductionSulphur (S) is considered the fourthmost important essentialelement after N, P, and K owing to greater significancefor plant growth, seed yield, oil and protein synthesis, andimproved quality of produce having its role in enzymaticand metabolic processes [1–5]. In general, oilseeds have highdemand of S owing to oil biosynthesis [6] and approximately16 kg S (range 5–20) is required to produce one tonne of seedcontaining 91% dry matter [7]. The response of S fertilizationto oilseeds crops ranged between 15 and 62 kg/kg S applieddepending on the inherent fertility status, prevailing weathercondition, cropping system followed, and S source being used[8]. Therefore, soil S reserves and their optimal fertilizationrequire immediate attention for sustaining the soil fertilityand attainting higher crop productivity.No doubt the increased use of inputs induces an upwardshift in production function to the extent that a technologicalchange is embodied in them. But in the context of the law ofdiminishing marginal utility under unlimited availability ofinputs, one may recommend optimum use of the resources;that is, marginal revenue equals marginal cost. Furthermore,the farmers do not use the recommended dose of nutrientseven when they are convinced of the benefits of fertilizerapplication mainly because of their poor resource base,costlier fertilizers, and cultivation of oilseed crops underinput-starved conditions leading to poor input/output ratio.Sunflower holds a great promise as an oilseed crop withchances of area expansion and horizontal intensificationfor improving oilseed production due to its short dura-tion, high per day productivity, photoinsensitivity, wideracclimatization, and polyunsaturated fatty acids rich edibleoil. Keeping in view the important role of S in oilseed cropsincluding sunflower, increasing use of S free fertilizers, and itsincreasing deficiency particularly under intensive croppingsystems, an attempt was made to optimize the sulphur dose2 International Journal of Agronomyfor yield maximization under its adequate supply as wellas the optimal allocation of sulphur particularly under itsconstraint availability.2. Materials and MethodsThedata were collected from the field experiments conductedduring spring 2008 and 2009 at Punjab Agricultural Univer-sity, Ludhiana (30∘56󸀠N, 75∘52󸀠E, 247 meters above mean sealevel) to evaluate the productivity potential of sunflower inrelation to levels and sources of sulphur application. The soilof experimental site (0–15 and 15–30 cm depth) was loamysand in texture (77.2±2.7% sand, 14.6±1.5% silt, 12.6±1.2%clay), slightly alkaline in nature (pH 7.9 ± 0.5), free fromsalts (0.20 ± 0.1 dS/m); low in organic carbon (0.19 ± 0.1%),available nitrogen (109 ± 3.5 kg/ha KMnO4-N), and availablesulphur (7.2 ± 2.5 ppm CaCl2-S); medium in available phos-phorus (11.21 ± 0.65 kg/ha Olsen’s P) and potassium (155 ±4.5 kg/haNH4OAC-K). After thorough seed bed preparation,sunflower hybrid PSH 569 was planted in the first fortnightof February by dibbling three seeds per hill in seven-rowplots, 5.1m long with spacing of 0.6m between rows and0.3m within rows each year. After complete germination,one plant per hill was retained by thinning extra plants atthe 3-4 leaf stages. The treatment combinations consisted offour sources of S, namely, ammonium sulphate, single superphosphate, gypsum, and elemental sulphur, were evaluatedat two levels of S (20 and 40 kg/ha) along with control (nosulphur application) in randomized block design replicatedthrice. All the treatment plots were uniformly fertilized with60 kg N, 30 kg P2O5, and 30 kg K2O per hectare taking intoconsideration the contribution of sulphur sources towardsnitrogen and phosphorus nutrition. Half dose of N in theform of urea/diammonium phosphate (DAP) and full doseof P (DAP), K (muriate of potash), and S as per treatmentswere drilled at the time of sowing while remaining half doseof N was top dressed with first irrigation applied at 30–35days after planting. Standard cultural practices as per staterecommendations were followed till the harvest of the crop.At maturity, head samples for yield were harvested from thecenter rows of each plot, dried, and threshed manually todetermine the seed yield which was then expressed in kg perhectare.Significant improvement in seed yield of sunflower wasobserved due to sulphur application. Each incremental doseof S resulted in linear and significant increase in seed yieldup to 40 kg S/ha. Though the treatment effects were similarunder both of the years of the experimental study, the datathus obtained were pooled together and analyzed statisticallyusing analysis of variance technique, and significant meanswere separated using least significance difference test (LSD)at 5% significance level for comparing the treatment meansas per the procedure described by Cochran and Cox [9]using computer programme CPCS 1 [10]. In the test analysis,only the seed yield of sunflower has been considered as thedependent variable and the expected yields have beenworkedout accordingly.The sunflower byproduct has not been takeninto consideration while working out the profitability in thepresent study. The polynomial type of production functionwas applied to meet the objective of the study [11]:𝑌 = 𝑏0+ 𝑏1𝑋 + 𝑏2𝑋2+ 𝑏3𝑋3, (1)where 𝑌 = yield of oilseeds in q/ha and 𝑋 = dose of sulphurin kg/ha,𝑏1> 0, 𝑏2> 0, 𝑏3< 0, (2)where 𝑏1is the intercept, 𝑏2is the slope, and 𝑏3is the curvatureof the curve.It is assumed that 100 kg of the sulphur fertilizer and 5hectares of the land are available with the farmer. Dependingon the conditions of resource availability, there could be anoption out of any of the four methods of fertilizer applicationmentioned below.(1) Fertilizer at its maximum output level: apply fer-tilizer at its maximum level and, thus, when the fertilizeris exhausted, leave the rest of the land uncovered by thefertilizer. The dose can be worked out as follows:𝛿𝑌𝛿𝑋= 𝑏1+ 2𝑏2𝑋 + 3𝑏3𝑋2= 0,𝑋 =− (2𝑏2) ± √(2𝑏2)2− 4 (3𝑏3) (𝑏1)2 (3𝑏3).(3)The positive value of 𝑋 has economic significance and isconsidered.(2) Fertilizer at its optimum output level: the fertilizeris applied as per optimum dose. When the fertilizer isexhausted, the rest of the land is kept without any fertilizerapplication. The optimum dose is worked out as follows:𝛿𝑌𝛿𝑋= 𝑏1+ 2𝑏2𝑋 + 3𝑏3𝑋2=𝑃𝑥𝑃𝑦,𝑋 =− (2𝑏2)𝑋 ± √(2𝑏2)2− 4 (3𝑏3) (𝑏1− 𝑃𝑥/𝑃𝑦)2 (3𝑏3),(4)where 𝑃𝑥is the price of input in Rs/kg and 𝑃𝑦is the price ofoutput in Rs/kg.(3) Fertilizer at its maximum technical efficiency: thislevel is calculated where the average product is maximumignoring the value of intercept. This can be calculated as𝑌𝑋= 𝑏1+ 𝑏2𝑋 + 𝑏3𝑋2. (5)For its maximization, take first derivative and equate it tozero:𝛿𝐴𝑃𝛿𝑋= 𝑏2+ 2𝑏3𝑋 = 0,𝑋 = −𝑏22𝑏3.(6)(4) Distribute the fertilizer equally in the whole availableland. In the present study, 150 kg of sulphur and 5 hectaresInternational Journal of Agronomy 3Table 1: Net returns over fertilizer cost under different possibilities of fertilizer use.Sr. no. Particulars Maximum yield dose Optimum dose Equal distribution dose Technical efficiency dose1 Fertilizer dose (kg S/ha) 45.21 36.70 30.00 85.752 Yield at fertilizer dose (t/ha) 2.62 2.61 2.60 2.633 Area covered (ha) 3.32 4.09 5.00 1.754 Total expected yield (t) 12.75 12.90 13.04 12.435 Total gross returns (USD) 5376 5440 5498 52406 Total fertilizer cost (USD) 46 46 46 467 Net returns over fertilizer cost (USD) 5331 5394 5452 51948 Net returns per hectare (USD) 1066 1079 1090 1039USD: United States dollar, equivalent to Rs.55/dollar.of land have been assumed to be available with the farmer.The allocation of the fertilizer has been made accordingly.The total expected yield under different situations has beenworked out as follows:EY = 𝐴𝑌 + (𝑇 − 𝐴) 𝑏0, (7)where EY = expected yield, 𝐴 = area covered (ha) by therespective dose of sulphur, 𝑌 = estimated yield (q/ha) at therespective dose of sulphur, 𝑇 = total available land (5 ha), and𝑏0= intercept of production function.3. Results and DiscussionThe estimated equation for the response of sunflower—anoilseed crop—to sulphur application is given below:𝑌 = 2406 + 12.3𝑋 − 0.225𝑋2+ 0.001312𝑋3,𝑅2= 0.756.(8)The analysis revealed that more than 75 per cent of thetotal variation in sunflower seed yield was caused due tosulphur application. Because of sharp increase in the prices ofthe fertilizers aswell as lack of knowledge, the cultivators havenot been using fertilizers up to the recommended level. Thenthe question arises at what level fertilizer application shouldbe made to achieve the desired yield potential. There are fourpossibilities (maximum, optimum, equal distribution, andtechnical efficiency) which have been discussed inmethodol-ogy.The returns obtained over fertilizer cost under all the fourpossibilities have been summarized in Table 1. The first twoconditions exist when there is no constraint towards fertilizeravailability; however, the rest of the conditions prevails underthe condition of limited resource availability.The results of the response curve presented in Table 1elucidated that for yield maximization, the sulphur dosewas estimated to be 45.21 kg S/ha. At this fertilizer dose, theyield has been calculated as 2.62 t/ha. Given the total area (5hectares) and total sulphur available (150 kg), the area coveredwas 3.32 hectares and the total expected yield was found tobe 12.75 t/ha giving a total returns of USD 5376 under thepresent situation. However, at optimum level, there was asaving of almost 8.5 kg S/ha without any reduction in seedyield compared to that obtained under maximum dose. Theoptimum dose was worked out to be 36.70 kg S/ha with seedyield of 2.61 t/ha giving the total expected yield of 12.90 t/hawith a coverage of larger area (4.09 ha) giving total net returnsof USD 5440 as against the maximum dose. Since the cost offertilizer was constant under both cases, the net returns overfertilizer cost were also higher under optimum dose with anet saving of USD 12.6/ha when compared with maximumdose.In general, the farmers do not have the sufficient fertilizerto be used under the actual farm situation. Under limitedavailability, the option available with the farmer is either todistribute the fertilizers equally to all the fields or to use it at itsmaximum technical efficiency.The results revealed that equaldistribution and maximum efficiency dose were worked outto be 30.00 and 85.75 kg S/ha with the corresponding yieldlevels of 2.60 and 2.63 t/ha, respectively. Given the total areaof 5 ha and total fertilizer availability of 150 kg, the coveragearea under maximum efficiency dose was found to be only1.75 ha leading to total expected yield of only 12.43 tonneswith total returns of USD 5240 as against the total expectedyield of 13.04 tonnes with total returns of USD 5498 underequal distribution dose. The net return over fertilizer costwas also higher under equal distribution dose (USD 1090/ha)compared to technical efficiency dose (USD 1039/ha).This study indicated that the cultivators should be advisedto use optimum dose of sulphur for sunflower cultivation,if it is adequately available. However, under the situation oflimited fertilizer availability, it would be more beneficial toequally distribute the fertilizer dose to all the fields for yieldmaximization and to get maximum benefit out of it.References[1] H. Marschner, Mineral Nutrition of Higher Plants, AcademicPress, London, UK, 1995.[2] J. Roche, A. Essahat, A. Bouniols et al., “Diversified compositionof sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) seeds with in culturalpractices and genotypes (hybrids and populations),” HELIA,vol. 27, pp. 73–97, 2004.[3] S. S. Hussain, F. A. Misger, A. Kumar, and M. H. Babu,“Response of nitrogen and sulphur on biological and economicyield of sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.),” Research Journal ofAgricultural Sciences, vol. 2, pp. 308–310, 2011.[4] H. L. S. Tandon and D. L. Messick, Practical Sulphur Guide, TheSulphur Institute, Washington, DC, USA, 2007.4 International Journal of Agronomy[5] M. A. Wani, F. A. Agha, M. A. Malik, and Z. A. Rather,“Response of sunflower to sulphur application under Kashmirconditions,” Applied Biological Research, vol. 3, pp. 19–22, 2001.[6] H. W. Scherer, “Sulphur in crop production—invited paper,”European Journal of Agronomy, vol. 14, no. 2, pp. 81–111, 2001.[7] S. P. McGrath and F. J. Zhao, “Sulphur uptake, yield responsesand the interactions between nitrogen and sulphur in winteroilseed rape (Brassica napus L.),” Journal of Agricultural Science,vol. 126, no. 1, pp. 53–62, 1996.[8] D. M. Hegde and S. N. Sudhakara Babu, “Declining factorproductivity and improving nutrient-use efficiency in oilseeds,”Indian Journal of Agronomy, vol. 54, no. 1, pp. 1–8, 2009.[9] W. G. Cochran and G. M. Cox, Experimental Designs, JohnWilley and Sons, New York, NY, USA, 1967.[10] H. S. Cheema and B. Singh, A User’s Manual to CPCS 1, PunjabAgricultural University, Ludhiana, India, 1990.[11] R. K. Sharma, S. C. Nayital, and J. R. Thakur, “Response ofbarley to nitrogenous fertilizer—a study of limited availability,”Fertilizer Marketing News, vol. 20, pp. 11–15, 1989.Submit your manuscripts athttp://www.hindawi.comNutrition and  MetabolismJournal ofHindawi Publishing Corporationhttp://www.hindawi.com Volume 2014Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttp://www.hindawi.com Volume 2014Food ScienceInternational Journal ofAgronomyHindawi Publishing Corporationhttp://www.hindawi.com Volume 2014International Journal ofHindawi Publishing Corporationhttp://www.hindawi.com Volume 2014International Journal ofMicrobiologyThe Scientific World JournalHindawi Publishing Corporation http://www.hindawi.com Volume 2014Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttp://www.hindawi.comApplied &EnvironmentalSoil ScienceVolume 2014AgricultureAdvances inHindawi Publishing Corporationhttp://www.hindawi.com Volume 2014PsycheHindawi Publishing Corporationhttp://www.hindawi.com Volume 2014BiodiversityInternational Journal ofHindawi Publishing Corporationhttp://www.hindawi.com Volume 2014ScientificaHindawi Publishing Corporationhttp://www.hindawi.com Volume 2014GenomicsInternational Journal ofHindawi Publishing Corporationhttp://www.hindawi.com Volume 2014Plant GenomicsInternational Journal ofHindawi Publishing Corporationhttp://www.hindawi.com Volume 2014Biotechnology Research InternationalHindawi Publishing Corporationhttp://www.hindawi.com Volume 2014Forestry ResearchInternational Journal ofHindawi Publishing Corporationhttp://www.hindawi.com Volume 2014Journal of BotanyHindawi Publishing Corporationhttp://www.hindawi.com Volume 2014EcologyInternational Journal ofHindawi Publishing Corporationhttp://www.hindawi.com Volume 2014 Veterinary Medicine InternationalHindawi Publishing Corporationhttp://www.hindawi.com Volume 2014Cell BiologyInternational Journal ofHindawi Publishing Corporationhttp://www.hindawi.com Volume 2014Evolutionary BiologyInternational Journal ofHindawi Publishing Corporationhttp://www.hindawi.com Volume 2014

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Modeling Sunflower Productivity and Profitability in Relation to Adequate and Limited Sulphur Availability under Semiarid Irrigated Conditions

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