Traditional fertilization practices and over simplified nutrient recommendations are directly tied to Nepal’s declining rice yields; researchers have introduced a promising new tool that is bridging the productivity gap through a more precise, farmer-participatory approach.
Traditional fertilization practices and over simplified nutrient recommendations are directly tied to Nepal’s declining rice yields; researchers have introduced a promising new tool that is bridging the productivity gap through a more precise, farmer-participatory approach.
Rice farmers in Nepal are chronically falling short of their potential productivity. Poor rice yields are persistent across the Terai—a lowland region lying south of the outer foothills of the Himalayas that extends through southern Nepal into northern India—and existing decision support systems are failing to provide the precision required.
To date, farmers in the area have lacked the knowledge and support they need to properly plan nutrient applications for their crops. Current nutrient recommendation systems only provide “blanket” prescriptions that fail to consider the large variability that occurs across their rice-growing landscapes. Nepal’s rice yield gaps—the difference between actual and attainable yields—are widening as soil fertility declines, which represents a major threat to the sustainability of these smallholder farms.
A team of researchers, headed by Dr. Lal Prasad Amgain, Far Western University, Nepal, along with Dr. Jagdish Timsina, Global Evergreening Alliance, Melbourne, Australia, looked at reversing this trend through the implementation of a flexible nutrient recommendation system that can adapt to the unique conditions faced by individual smallholder farmers.
Read more at African Plant Nutrition Institute
Photo Credit: mufidpwt via Pixabay
