Integrated Plant Nutrient Management

Abstract

Concept The basic concept of integrated nutrient management (INM) or integrated plant nutrition management (IPNM) is the adjustment of plant nutrient supply to an optimum level for sustaining the desired crop productivity. The Integrated Plant Nutrition System (IPNS) is 'the management of all available plant nutrient sources (organic, inorganic and microbial), to provide optimum and sustainable crop production conditions within the prevailing farming system'. It involves proper combination of chemical fertilizers, organic manure, crop residues, N 2-fixing crops (like pulses) and oilseeds such as soybean and biofertilizers suitable to the system of land use and ecological, social and economic conditions. The cropping system rather than an individual crop, and farming system rather than an individual field, is the focus of attention in this approach for development INM practices for various categories. INM use five major sub-concepts, viz. 1. Plant nutrients stored in the soil. 2. Plant nutrients, those present in the crop residues, organic manure and domestic wastes. 3. Plant nutrients purchased or obtained from outside the farm. 4. Plant nutrient lossed e.g. those removed from the field in crop harvest and lost from the soil through volatilization (ammonia and nitrogen oxide gases and leaching (nitrate, sulphate etc.) 5. Plant nutrient outputs e.g. nutrient uptake by the crops at harvest time. Goals of INM  To maintain soil productivity  To ensure productive and sustainable agriculture  To reduce expenditure on costs of purchased inputs by using farm manure and crop residue etc.  To utilize the potential benefits of green manures, leguminous crops and biofertilizers.  To prevent degradation of the environment.  To meet the social and economic aspirations of the farmers without harming the natural resource base of the agricultural production.