Sustainable nutrient management

Abstract

Agriculture production has substantially increased since green revolution due to introduction of modern cultivars and inputs. Organic fertilizers are key contributor to achieve high yield targets in sustainable way. From the last a few decades the uses of inorganic fertilizers have been increased to get higher yield. Low soil fertility is one of the major reasons for low crop production. However, under or over application of fertilizers and selection of wrong nutrient source causes nutrient imbalance in soil. Moreover, high application of inorganic fertilizers and unbalanced fertilization has reduced the nutrient use efficiencies (NUE) with high cost of production and environmental risks. Therefore, better NUE can reduce the fertilizer cost and environmental risks. This chapter discusses the challenges to sustainable nutrient management. Moreover, use of approaches for sustainable nutrient management including appropriate soil testing technique, fertilizer sources (organic, inorganic, biofertilziers and nanofertilizers) and application method in right combination using site specific nutrient management will reduce the fertilizer losses with high NUE and economic yield.