Efficient Nutrient Management Practices for Sustaining Soil Health and Improving Rice-Wheat Productivity: A Review

Abstract

The challenge that the world is facing has been to maximize food production to feed the increasing population. Further, agriculture at present encompasses many problems such as stagnating food-grain production, multi-nutrient deficiency, declining fertilizer response, reduction in land availability for cultivation, environmental pollution and land degradation. To manage long term soil fertility, productivity as well as environment quality, efficient nutrient management practices integration can be the most sustainable practices to adopt. Among plant nutrients, nitrogen (N) is the most important. Its importance as a growth- and yield-determining nutrient has led to large and rapid increases in N application rates, but often with poor use efficiency. Nitrogen management requires special attention in its use so that the large losses can be minimized and the efficiency maximized. Site-specific nutrient management (SSNM) has been found especially useful to achieve the goals of improved productivity and higher N use efficiency (NUE). Leaf color charts and chlorophyll meters assist in the prediction of crop N needs for rice and wheat, leading to greater N-fertilizer efficiency at various yield levels. Remote sensing tools are also used to predict crop N demands precisely. At the same time, traditional techniques like balanced fertilization, integrated N management (INM), split application and nutrient budgeting, among others, are also used to supplement recent N management techniques to attain higher productivity and NUE, and reduce environmental pollution through the leakage of fertilizer N.This will definitely enhance the productivity of rice and wheat crops by improving soil fertility and ameliorating adverse soil physical conditions. This paper reviews the effect of efficient nutrient management practices on sustaining soil health improving the productivity of Rice-wheat cropping sequence.