1. Soil health and Nutrient Management
P. D. Sharma
Assistant Director General (NRM)
ICAR, Krishi Anusandhan Bhavan II
New Delhi

2. Soil Health
Capacity of a soil to function within ecosystem boundaries to sustain biological productivity, maintain environmental quality and promote plant and animal health.
In the context of agriculture, it may refer to its ability to sustain productivity.
A healthy soil would ensure proper retention and release of water and nutrients, promote and sustain root growth, maintain soil biotic habitat, respond to management and resist degradation

3. Measure of Soil Health
Governed by a number of physical, chemical and biological attributes and processes.
Expressed by different quantitative and qualitative measures of these attributes as also by outcomes that are governed by the soil such as productivity, nutrient and water use efficiencies and quality of produce.

4. Declining Soil Health – A Cause of Concern
Deceleration in growth of total factor productivity in agriculture, especially in IGP states.
State to to
West Bengal
5.13
1.25
Haryana
3.22
0.10
Bihar
1.47
0.24
Uttar Pradesh
1.40
0.54
Punjab
1.24
1.20
Source : Kumar et al. (2004)

5. Declining Soil Health – A Cause of Concern
Falling productivity growth rate (% per annum) of major crops in India
Crop
Productivity to to to
Rice
3.19
1.27
-0.72
Wheat
3.10
2.11
0.73
Pulses
1.61
0.96
-1.84
All Food grains
2.74
1.52
-0.69
Oilseeds
2.43
1.25
-3.83
Non-food grain
2.31
1.04
-1.02

6. Required Growth to achieve domestic demand by 2020.
Commodity
Domestic production ( mt)
Growth rate during to (%)
Required growth rate over to meet the demand (%)
Cereals
201.9
0.62
1.9
Pulses
14.2
0.47
2.1
Foodgrains
216.1
0.61
Oilseeds
23.6
1.96
6.0
Vegetable
111.8
3.68
0.9
Fruit
57.7
3.06
2.9
Sugarcane
315.5
-0.60
0.6
Milk
111.9
3.65
2.4
Fish
6.9
2.89
3.5
Egg (billion)
50.7
6.60
3.4

7. Food grain production and fertilizer use
Fertilizers – An important input contributing 50% towards improvement in crop productivity

8. Declining Fertilizer Response
Low Fertilizer Response - Irrigated Areas

9. Declining Nutrient Response
Fertilizer Nutrient Response - Irrigated Areas

10. Emerging Multi-Nutrient Deficiencies in Soils
Year ? B Mn S K Zn P Fe N
1950
1960
1970
1980
1990
2000

11. Nutrient Status – N P K
Indian soils poor in N and P with 89 and 80 percent soil samples in low to medium category; relatively better in K with 50 percent samples only low to medium.

12. Nutrient Status –Micro and Secondary
S, Zn, B, Mo, Fe, Mn and Cu deficient to the tune of 41, 49, 33, 22, 12, 5 and 4 % respectively.

13. Sulphur Deficiency in Indian Soils
The deficiencies are widespread covering %
districts and 60mha of net sown area; occurrence
more in the southern region.
The deficit to the tune of 1mt/annum.
Region / State
No. of Samples
% samples in category
Low
Medium
High
Northern Region
15323 44 30 26
Western Region
12474 45 25
Eastern Region
10108 35 33 32
Southern Region
11289 63 11
All India
49194 46 24

14. Zinc Deficiency

15. Boron Deficiency

16. Imbalanced fertilizer use evidenced by wider fertilizer consumption ratios
State N
P2O5
K2O
Haryana
29.6
8.8 1
47.3
13.4
39.8
10.9
Punjab
19.9
5.9
33.7
9.2
34.3
9.0
U.P.
12.1
4.1
16.8
5.2
15.1
4.5

17. Low nutrient use efficiency
Cause of low efficiency
Nitrogen
30-50
Immobilization, volatilization, denitrification, 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, Fe, Cu, Mn, B)
1-2
Fixation in soils

18. Nutrient Mining in Soils of India (mt)
Gross balance
Net balance
Addition
Removal
Balance N
10.9
9.6
1.3
5.5
7.7
-2.2
P2O5
4.2
3.7
0.5
1.5
3.0
-1.5
K2O
1.4
11.6
-10.2
1.0
7.0
-6.0
Total
16.5
24.9
-8.4
8.0
17.7
-9.7
Increased mining of soil potassium a cause of more
rampant decline in rice yields compared to wheat in IGP
(data from 24 research stations)
Source : Tandon (2004)

19. Projected Food Grain Production, Fertilizer Demand, likely Consumption and Gap

20. Declining Soil Health – A Cause of Concern
Managing soil health a formidable challenge to ensure productivity, profitability and national food security.
The United Nations Millennium Development Task Force on hunger made Soil Health Enhancement as one of the five recommendations for increasing agricultural productivity and fight hunger in India.

21. Integrated Nutrient Management (INM) – Panacea for soil health and productivity
INM envisaging conjunctive use of chemical fertilizers, organic manures and biofertilizers enhances nutrient use efficiency, soil health, crop yields and profitability
Need to augment supplies of organic manures, fortified, coated & customized fertilizers supplying secondary and micronutrients, biofertilizers and soil amendments to have INM on a sound footing.
Site specific nutrient management.

22. Site Specific Nutrient Management Rice-Wheat Cropping System
Location,
State
Grain yield*
SSNM plot,
Kg/ha/ yr
Grain yield
FP plot,
Kg/ha/yr
Nutrients applied under SSNM
BCR of improvement (SSNM-FP) system basis
Sabour
Bihar
13,849
(60)
8,658
N P K S (4)
6.8
Palampur HP
9,896
(42)
6,955
N P K S B Zn (6)
5.4
R.S.Pura
J & K
13,182
(36)
9,718
N P K S Cu Mn Zn (7)
2.7
Ranchi
Jharkhand
10,957
(77)
6,202
N P K S B Cu Mn Zn (8)
7.3
Ludhiana
Punjab
16,828
(3)
16,414
N P K S B Mn Zn (7)
-1.4
(no improve-ment)
Contd..

23. Site Specific Nutrient Management Rice-Wheat Cropping System
Location, State
Grain yield*
SSNM plot,
Kg/ha/ yr
Grain yield
FP plot,
Nutrients applied under SSNM
BCR of improvement (SSNM-FP) system basis
Kanpur
Uttar Pradesh
14,555
(25)
11,605
N P K S (4)
3.6
Modipuram
16,679
(47)
11,334
N P K S Cu Mn Zn (7)
26.8
Varanasi
12,116
(10)
10,996
N P K S B Cu Mn Zn (8)
2.6
Pantnagar
Uttaranchal
12,447
9,974
N P K S B (5)
4.6
Average
13,289.4
(39)
9,933.7
4.90

24. SSNM in Rainfed Agriculture (yield kg/ha) Normal Fertilization +
Location
Crop
Normal Fertilization
Normal Fertilization +
B+Zn+S
% Increase in Yield
Sripuram
Maize
2980
4570 53
Malleboinpally
Maize+ Pigeonpea
2380
240
4370
420 84 75
Nemikal
Mung bean +
Pigeonpea
840
350
1100
660 31 89
Tirumalapuram
Castor +
430
410
640
460 49 12
Nandavaram
1630
2640 62
Castor
860
1290 50
Karivemula
Groundnut +
1440
130
1960
330 36
154

25. LTFE data

26. Enhancing availability of organic manures
Recycling and composting/ vermi composting of urban, animal and agro industrial waste
About 57MT of urban solid waste generated per annum with potential to supply 8MT of good quality compost.
Present availability 383 mt against the moderate requirement of 900 mt / annum t / ha on gross cropped area of 185 mha).
FYM
Rural compost
Urban Compost
Vermi Compost
Others
Total
186
169 15 3 9
383

27. Promoting bio-fertilizers
Production (thousand tonnes)
9.8
10.6
10.8
16.1
20.1
164 units producing only one-third of installed capacity of 67,000 t/annum
The consumption is skewed - 90% in south & west zones of the country
Production zone wise (%)
South 60
West 29
North
2.5
East
7.3
North-East
0.5

28. Acid Soils
About 12 m ha of arable acid soils with pH<5.5 have low nutrient use efficiency and crop productivity.
Liming to enhance nutrient use efficiency and productivity of crops, especially of pulses and oilseeds.
The practice saves 50% fertilizers

29. Crop Response( q/ha) to lime & Fertilizer Application

30. Salt Affected Soils
Reclamation of 7m ha of salt affected soils for increased nutrient use efficiency and productivity

31. Utilization of Indigenously Available Nutrient Sources
Large reserves of low grade rock phosphate(160MT) and K bearing mica in the country could be co-composted for production of P & K enriched manure
Phospogypsum, a by-product of fertilizer industry containing 16% S and 21%Ca, a potential source of S and Ca for crops.
About 7MT of phosphogypsum generated per annum has a potential to supply 1 mt of S and 1.4 mt of Ca
Coarse textured acidic and sodic soils low in S and Ca to benefit from its supplementation.

32. Fertilizers Policy Measures
Nutrient Based Pricing and Subsidy : The pricing of fertilizers and subsidy on them to be fixed as per nutrient content and not product wise.
The move to encourage use of complexes and broaden the basket of fertilizers for balanced fertilizer use
The new pricing mechanism would reduce dependence on DAP.
The SSP containing 11% sulphur to be promoted to correct wide spread sulphur deficiency in soils besides a P source.

33. Promoting Fortified and Coated Fertilizers
The fertilizers to be fortified and coated with micro and secondary nutrients to correct their deficiencies in soils – Zincated urea, boronated SSP & DAP etc.
Policy decision by the Govt. to allow additional cost of fortification and coating to manufacturers (5-10% above MRP)

34. Promoting Fertigation and Water Soluble / Speciality Fertilizers
Fertigation increasing nutrient use efficiency by 40% to be popularized for fruits, vegetables, flowers and plantation crops.
Hold great promise as micro-irrigation to be expanded on 69 m ha in subsequent plan periods
The fully water soluble fertilizers are costly due to heavy custom duty & sales tax besides higher initial cost.
Need to be manufactured in India and brought under FCO 1985.

35. Strengthening Soil Testing Service
The service presently inadequate with a capacity to analyze only 7m soil samples/ annum against 120 m farm holdings in the country.
Need to open more soil testing laboratories at least one each in different districts with state of art facilities.
The laboratories to participate in the preparation of geo-referenced soil fertility maps at district and block levels.
National Commission on Farmers has recommended additional 1000 advanced soil testing laboratories in the country.

36. Periodic Change in Zn Deficiency

37. P Build-Up in Soils of Punjab

38. Organic Carbon Status
Soil organic carbon (SOC) governs soil productivity and environment.
The earlier studies linked reduced productivity of the rice-wheat system in IGP plain with declining soil organic matter (SOM) content.
The recent studies on SOC build up in soils over a long period subscribe to a different school of thought.
The evaluation of large soil test data for 25 years ( to ) has revealed improvement in SOC status by 38 % under intensive agriculture in Punjab.

39. Conclusion
Widespread nutrient deficiencies and deteriorating soil health are cause of low nutrient use efficiency, productivity & profitability.
Adoption of site-specific balanced and integrated nutrient management involving major, secondary and micro nutrients, organic manures, biofertilizers and amendments.
Conducive policy environment for more investments in the fertilizer sector for sustained supplies of fertilizers.
Utilizing all indigenously available nutrient sources to reduce dependence on imports.
Developing new efficient fertilizer products/ approaches through state of art R & D applications.
Effective soil testing service to back up precise fertilizer use.
Creating awareness amongst farmers on benefits of balanced fertilization.

40. Thank you