Site-specific nutrient management

Abstract

The editorial introduces to a Special Issue entitled ”Site-Specific Nutrient Management. The concept of the nitrogen gap (NG) is as a core challenge for an effective realization of the so called “twin objectives” in sustainable agriculture. This special issue stresses on some hot spots in crop production, being responsible in the yield gap development, that farmers have to take control. The yield gap cannot be ameliorated without the synchronization of the in-season requirements of the currently grown crop for N with its three-dimensional variability in a supply on a field (temporal, spatial and vertical). A recognition of soil fertility status in the rooted zone, which includes availability of both mineral N and nutrients decisive for its uptake, is the first step in the NG amelioration. The sustainability in soil fertility, as a prerequisite of N fertilizer application, requires a wise strategy of organic matter management, based on farmyard manure, and/or cultivation of legumes. The soil fertility status, irrespectively of the World region determines ways of the N rate optimization. The division of a particular field into homogenous productive units is the primary step in the NG cover. It can be delineated, using both data on soil physico-chemical properties of the soil rooted zone, and then validated by using satellite spectral images of the crop biomass in a well-defined stage of its growth, decisive for yield. The proposed set of diagnostic tools is a basis for elaboration an effective agronomic decision support system.