NUTRIENT USE EFFICIENCY

NUTRIENT USE EFFICIENCY

 It may be defined as yield per unit input.

 Fresh weight or product yield per content of nutrient.

 NUE depends on the ability to efficiently take up the

nutrient from the soil, but also on transport, storage,
mobilization, usage within the plant, and even on the
environment.
Fertilizer use efficiency
• When a fertilizer is applied all of its nutrient(s) are not
absorbed by the crop. Only a fraction of the nutrient(s) is
utilized by the crop.

• Fertilizer use efficiency is the output of any crop per unit of the
nutrient applied under a specified set of soil and climatic
conditions.
FERTILIZERUSEEFFICIENCY
• Based on the nutrient supplying power of soils
as determined by soil test values, fertilizer
recommendations are made.
• The aim is to get maximum economic yield with
minimum inputs.
• Of the various inputs fertilizer is the costly
input. This costly input must be efficiently used
and utilized.
Fertilizers are considered as efficient when maximum yield is obtained
with minimum possible amountof fertilizer application.
• It is indeed difficult to quantify the efficiency of a particular
fertilizer since it dependson:
1. Losses due to leaching
2. Losses in gaseous forms
3. Immobilization by chemical precipitation, adsorption on
exchange complex and microbial cells.
4. Chemical reactions between various components in fertilizers
during mixing, before application to soil.
5. Physical properties of soil
6. Chemical properties of soil
7. Fertilizer characteristics.
 NEED FOR NUE
 Import of fertilizer of Rs 337.3billion IN 2016-17
 Loss of Rs. 2900 crores in India due to loss of N fertilizer
 1% increase in NUE in N & P will save Rs. 1005 million
 Meeting increasing global demand for food, fiber, and
bio-energy
 Ground water contamination
 Soil health point of view
 Marginal economy of farmers
 Human health issue- in Punjab & Haryana ground
water samples had Nitrate-N of > 22mg/L.
Challenges Facing Indian
Agriculture

 Degrading soil health

 Imbalanced fertilizer use
 Emerging multi-nutrient deficiencies
particularly of secondary and
micronutrients
 Declining factor productivity
 Slow growth in food grain productivity

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Food Grain (Mt) Fertilizer(Mt)

1967-68 2012-13 1967-68 2012-13

74.5 257.5 1.1 25.5

Fertilizer consumption
during 1967-68 to 2011-
12 increased 24 times,
the increase in food
grain production was
only 3.5 times.

8
 Deteriorating balance in NPK
The N-P-K ratio worsened acutely in certain states
NPK Ratios across states in India for 2013

EAST SOUTH

Bihar 12.3 : 3.6 : 1 Andhra Pradesh 7.1 : 2.8 : 1

Orissa 6.2 : 2.4 : 1 Karnataka 3.6 : 1.6 : 1

West Bengal 2.9 : 1.6 : 1 Tamil Nadu 3.9 : 1.5 : 1

NORTH WEST

Haryana 61.4 : 18.7 : 1 Gujarat 13.2 : 3.4 : 1

Punjab 61.7 : 19.2 : 1 Maharashtra 3.5 : 1.8 : 1

Uttar Pradesh 25.2 : 8.8 : 1 Rajasthan 44.9 : 16.5 : 1

Uttarakhand 16.3:3.9:1 Chhattisgarh 8.06:3.87:1 6

 Low nutrient use efficiency Causes

Nutrient Efficiency Cause of low efficiency

Immobilization, volatilization, denitrification,

Nitrogen 30-50 %
leaching
Phosphorus 15-20% Fixation in soils Al – P, Fe – P, Ca – P
Potassium 70-80% Fixation in clay - lattices
Sulphur 8-10% Immobilization, Leaching with water
Micro nutrients (Zn,
1-2% Fixation in soils
Fe, Cu, Mn, B)

 The loss of N through leaching and volatilization creates pollution and has
environmental implications.

 P & K fertilizers are imported. Skewed distribution of resources in world.

Limited supply.

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The cause for low NUE and declining response to N fertilizers:

Low status of soil organic carbon and soil degradation.

Susceptibility of N fertilizers to losses by various mechanisms.

Imbalanced use of fertilizers.

Poor management for secondary and micronutrients, especially S,

Zn, Mn, Fe and B.

Use of high analysis fertilizers like urea and Diammonium

phosphate (DAP) and inadequate addition of organic manures.

Inappropriate rate, time and method of application.

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2
Indices of Nutrient Use
Efficiency
1. PFP = yield (kg/ha) / Nutrient applied (kg/ha) x 100

2. Agronomic use efficiency = yield (kg/ha) in fertilized

treatment - yield (kg/ha) in unfertilized treatment / Nutrient
applied (kg/ha)

3.Physiological use efficiency = yield fertilized treatment

(kg/ha) - yield unfertilized treatment (kg/ha) / Nutrient uptake in
fertilized treatment (kg/ha) - Nutrient uptake unfertilized
treatment (kg/ha)

4.Apparent recovery efficiency = Nutrient uptake in fertilized

treatment (kg/ha) - Nutrient uptake unfertilized treatment (kg/ha)
/ Nutrient applied (kg/ha) 10
 Interventions for increasing
nutrient use efficiency in
field crops 2 .PLANT BASED INTERVENTIONS
1. SOIL BASED INTERVENTIONS
• Crop management practices.
• Rhizosphere management
• Crop Rotation/ Intercropping.
• Soil chemistry modification.
Crop Residue Management.
•
• Use of controlled release
Green Manuring.
fertilizers and NH3/NH4 •
inhibitors • Use of Nitrogen Efficient
Species/Genotypes.
• Source, Method, Rate, and
Timing of Application of • Improving biological and Non-
biological N fixation.
Fertilizers.
• Various tools and techniques.
• Use of Manures. Foliar application and speciality
fertilizers.

• Water Management. • Customized Fertilizers.

 Loss of soil
fertility
and
productivity

Economic
Threat loss to
to farmers
food
securit Adverse thereby to
nation
y impacts
of poor
SHM
Mortality
Soil of active
hardening beneficia
& erosion l Soil
Bacteria
 Rhizosphere Mangement

Rhizosphere management not only increases maize yield by 5–15% with high yields of 12–
15 t ha–1, but also saves considerable chemical inputs by reducing fertilizer application
(40–50% for fertilizer N and by 33% for P)
 Rhizosphere Enrichment through Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi

(A) Mechanisms of nutrient mobilization from soil by Abuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and their contribution to P
nutrition and plant growth; (B) pre inoculation of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in sweet potato seedlings;
and (C) effects of AMF on sweet potato growth.
 Nitrification inhibitors in
Name agriculture
Solubility .
in water Relative Mode of
(chemical, (g/l) volatility application
trademark)

2-chloro-6- 0.04 High Suitable with

(trichloromethyl) (at 20°C) anhydrous
pyridine ammonia
(Nitrapyrin; for soil injection
N-serve)
2-amino-4-chloro 1.25 High Coatings on solid
methyl pyrimidine (at 20°C) nitrogen
fertilizers
Dicyandiamide 23.0 Low Blend with urea or
(DCD), (at 13°C) other solid nitrogen
cyanoguanidine fertilizers

DMPP Low Blend with urea or

other solid nitrogen
fertilizers

Subbarao et al., 2006

Method of Application

Underuse

(Patakh et al., 2003)

 • Reduces expenditures for urea by
20%-25%.
Deep Placement of
• Increases paddy yields by
Urea Supergranules
15%-25%.
• Encourages algal biological nitrogen
fixation because of low flood water
nitrogen concentration.

• Reduces phosphorus runoff when

urea- diammonium phosphate is deep
placed.

• Ensures nitrogen availability beyond the

flowering stage when applied at an
appropriate rate

IFDC—International Center for Soil

Fertility and Agricultural Development
 Production of Urea Super granules(USG)

Prilled Urea(1-2
mm)

Briquetting Machine for USG

USG( 1-3 grams/particle)

 Plant Based
Intervention
s

22
Inter cropping for improving nutrient use
efficiency
Intercropping Remarks

Maize+ Peanut Maize improved iron nutrition of

peanut phytosiderphore released
from maize roots may mobilize
Fe(III) and benefit the iron
nutrition of peanut plant.
Chick pea+ Wheat Chickpea-facilitated P nutrition in
associated wheat chickpea can
mobilize and absorb some organic P by
releasing phosphatase into soil.
Faba bean/maize Intercropping reduced nitrate
intercropping. accumulation in soil Profile .The
decrease was about 0–41% for wheat
and 0–31% for Faba bean. 23
Interactions between inter-cropped legumes and cereals

P-deficient intercropping
system

Maize Faber bean

Decrease in the soil pH from

6.5 to
4.1 can result in10-fold
increase in
the P released into soil
solution

Legume based

Zhang et al., 2010

Crop residue management
 Site-specific nutrient management (SSNM)

“ Site-specific nutrient management

(SSNM) is the dynamic, field-specific
management of nutrients in a particular
cropping season to optimize the supply and
demand of nutrients according to their Feeding
differences in cycling through soil-plant
systems.”
Crop
1.To establish

(Dobermann and White, 1999)

yield target
– the crop’s
nateeds!
total needs

2. Effective 3. Fill
use of deficit
existing between total
nutrients needs and
26
indigenous
 LCC and SPAD Meter

 Simple leaf colour chart (LCC) is a simple

tool which is a proxy for leaf N is used as an
indicator of leaf colour.
 Leaf color intensity and leaf N status
 Right time of N application
Generally critical value for semi dwarf high
yielding varieties is 4.0. If the average value
fall below 4.0, top dress N fertilizer (20-30
kg/ha) to correct N deficiency
Benefits
 Reduce pest/disease pressure
 Reduce leakage into environment
 LCC saves nearly 26% fertilizer N
 Helps to synchronize N supply, crop demand
and enhance N use efficiency
Leaf colour chart (LCC) based N management in direct -
seeded rice
AE (kg
Total N Grain
N uptake RE grain/
Treatment applied yield
(kg/ha) (%) kg N
(kg/ha) (t/ha)
applied)
Control 0 3.05 68 - -

80 kg N/ha at 0, 20, 40 and 60 DAS 80 4.63 111 53.8 19.8

120 kg N/ha at 0, 20, 40 and 60 DAS 120 4.72 124 46.7 13.9

30 kg N/ha at LCC < 3

(at 25 and 50 DAS) with 20 kg 80 5.36 127 73.8 28.9
N/ha at 0 DAS
30 kg N/ha at LCC < 4
(at 25 and 41 DAS) with 20 kg 80 5.23 121 66.2 27.3
N/ha at 0 DAS
CD at 5% - 0.39 12.1 2.7 5.2

(Singh et al., 2008)

Green seeker
It uses active light source to measure and
determine N rate by comparing it with a N rich
strip within the field
Benefits-
• Fast and precise optical sensing

• Reduce crop fertilizer costs

• Only apply nitrogen to plants that

need it

• Real time variable rate

fertilizer application

• Collect data during existing

farming operation
Evaluation of Green Seeker-based N management ( PBW 343)
Fertilizer N application (kg N /ha) Grai Total AE (kg RE(%)
Treatment n N grain
Basal CRI,1ST 2nd 3rd Total yiel uptake kg−1 N
at irrig irriga irriga d (kg/ha applie
sowin ati tio n tio n (t/h ) d)
g on a)
1 0 0 0 1.89 39.2
2 75 75 150 4.56 138.3 17.8 66.1
3 80 0 25a 105 4.01 107.7 20.2 65.2
4 40 40 25a 105 4.24 115.5 22.4 72.7
5 80 0 37a 117 4.21 113.2 19.8 63.2
6 40 40 29a 109 4.47 112.0 23.7 66.8
CD at 5% 0.42 10.11 3.29 7.45

AE (Agronomic efficiency of applied N) RE ( Recovery efficiency of

applied N)
aGreenSeeker-guided N application

Soil pH 8.2,OC(3.9%), N total(0.64 (Singh et al., 2011)

g/kg),P(8.9mg/kg),K(12.2mg/kg)
 Speciality
crop
fertilizers
Specialty Concentration(%) No of
sprays
Stage of
spraying
fertilizer
Rice polyfeed 1 1 Max tillering
Multi-K 1 1 Grain filling
Maize polyfeed 1 1 Knee high

Multi-K 1 1 Grain filling

soybean polyfeed 1 1 Max.

vegetative
growth
sunflower polyfeed 0.5 1 Grain floret

cotton polyfeed 1 1 Square

formation
Mung bean polyfeed 1 1 Pod development

Polyfeed NPK Blend 19-19-19

MULTI-K: Potassium Nitrate 13-00-46
Speciality fertilizers For
• MONO POTASSIUM PHOSHATE •Potassium Nitrate (NOP)
foliar Spray
• Water soluble Phosphate as
P205(min.52%).
Nitrate Nitrogen (as NO ) 13 % min
• Water Soluble Potash (as K O) 45 %
3
2
• Water soluble Potash as K2O(min.32%). min
• sodium as NaCl (dry basis) •Sodium (as Na ) (Dry Basis) 1 %
max.0.025%. max.
• Moisture content max(0.5%). •Matter Insoluble in water 0.05 %
• Spray Recommendations : 5-6 gm / Lit max
of •Moisture Content 0.5 % max
Water for Fruit Crops / Vegetables / •Spray Recommendations : 7-10 gm /
Kharif Lit of water for Fruit crops /
-Rabi Crops. Vegetables / Kharif - Rabi crops.
 Customized Fertilizers in INDIA
Crop Formulations( N:P:K: Geography
Zn/ N:P:K:S:Zn:B)

Wheat 10:18:25:3:0.5:0 Muzaffarnagar,Barielly,Bijnore,Ha

thras
, Pilibhit,Mathura, Meerut and
Etah
Sugarcane 7:20:18:6:0.5:0 Moradabad, KR Nagar,
Farukhabad and
Ferozabad
Paddy 8:15:15:0.5:0.15:0 GB Nagar, Ghaziabad,
Rampur, Shahjahanpur,
Mainpuri and US Bagar
Maize 20:0:15:0:0:0.2 Andhra Pradesh
Ground nut 15:15:15:9:0.5:0.2 Andhra Pradesh

Paddy 15:32:8:0.5, Andhra Pradesh

18:33:7:0.5

Grapes, Sugarcane 10:20:10:5:2:0.5:0.3:0 Aurangabad, Nasik, Pune

.2 and Rakshit
Ahmednagar
et al , 2012
 Comparative evaluation of tools and strategies for
enhancing fertilizer N use efficiency
Tools/strategies Benefi Limitations
t cost

Site-specific N management High Has to be developed

for every
Infrastructure
required.
Chlorophyll meter High Initial high cost

Leaf color chart Very high None

Controlled release Low Lack of

fertilizers and interest by
nitrification inhibitors industry
Tools/strategies Benefit Cost limitation

Fertilizer placement High Lack of equipment

Foliar N application High Lack of equipment, risk

Remote sensing tools Low Needs fine tuning

Precision farming High Needs fine tuning

technology

Breeding strategies Medium Limited research effort

 Measures to increase nutrient use efficiency
Measure Nutrient Increase in nutrient
use
efficiency(%)
Split vs. single dose N 15-20
application
Furrow placement vs. PK 20-30
broadcast application

The incorporation of urea N 20

super
granules (USG) vs. split
application
The foliar vs. basal Micro-nutrients 15-20
application
Neem coated vs. prilled urea N 5-10
Preferential application of P 50
phosphorus to wheat in rice-
wheat sequence
Probable Gains in
Nutrient use
Efficiency in Future

Giller et al. 2004

 Conclusion
• Widespread nutrient deficiencies and deteriorating
soil health are causes of low nutrient use
efficiency, productivity & profitability.
• Adoption of site-specific balanced and integrated nutrient
management involving major, secondary and micronutrients,
organic manures, bio-fertilizer and amendments.

• Utilizing all indigenously available nutrient sources to

reduce
dependence on imports.
• Developing new efficient fertilizer products/ approaches.

• Effective soil testing service to back up precise fertilizer

use.
• Creating awareness amongst farmers on benefits of
balanced fertilization.