Sustainable Soil Nutrient Management

Abstract

Productive agriculture is dependent upon sound soil nutrient management practices. Seventeen elements are known to be essential for plants. Over years of intensive cultivation and imbalanced fertilizer use, Indian soils have become deficient in several of these nutrients and are also impoverished in organic matter. Yields of various crops have reached a plateau or are on the decline. This is of serious consequence given increasing population and diminishing per capita land availability. Several methods of nutrient management have been practiced on farms, however, the best option for the  farmer is an integration of organic and inorganic approaches to nutrient management. This far a lot of emphasis has been placed on the conservation and management of N-one of the earliest reported scarce plant nutrient. However, current studies across India have shown a gradual and alarming depletion of potassium and increase in P fixation leading to sustainability concerns for these two nutrients. Among other nutrients S, Zn and B are also reaching deficient status in Indian soils. This sustainability crisis needs to be addressed holistically. This paper explains the philosophy, strategies and practices available to various users of  sustainable nutrient management.