Nutrient Management in Crops through Micro Irrigation

Presented to National Seminar on Fertigation

September 15th 2017, Vadodara

Presentation Structure

• Nagarjuna group

• Stagnating Yields in India

• Nutrient management in Crops though micro irrigation –definition of fertigation

• Nutrient Management in Crops through Fertigation- results

• Policy Changes and NFCL innovation in area of Fertigation

• Fertigation adoption - Impediments & Solutions

NAGARJUNA GROUP• One of the most successful integrated agricultural brand in India• Largest Private sector Urea manufacturer in India producing over 14

lakh MT annually• One of the largest bulk fertilizer companies in India; 10% market share in

Urea and significant market share in specialty fertilizers and significantpresence in Agrochemicals.

• Pioneered the concept of Customized Fertilizer, soil, crop & stagespecific products, for major crops in all agriculturally important states inIndia.

• Amongst Top Micro Irrigation companies in India.• GOI partner in development and implementation of E NAM project for

farmers.

• R & D plays a significant role in Nagarjuna' strategy.

Stagnating Yields in India

• Poor and degrading soil health and Imbalanced/Inadequate nutrition application effecting crop growth across the life cycle from seed to fruiting

• Increasing biotic and abiotic stresses due to changing

weather patterns, diseases and increased use of

chemicals

• Outdated practices, recommendations, products and

services

Fertigation – An Opportunity for Innovation & Enhancement

Nutrient management in Crops through Micro Irrigation i.e.Fertigation has been defined as a tool to supply the plant with it’s daily demand of water and nutrients as required by specific growth stage throughout it’s development to achieve maximum efficiency of the fertilizer applied

• Synergistic use of water and nutrients through fertigation is one of the key factors for improving crop productivity• Not novel, in use since 20 years• Various stakeholders proved the benefits through multiple trials

Nutrient Management in Fertigation

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Nitrogen Phosphorous Potassium

Fertilizer use efficiency (%) Soil application

Fertilizer use efficiency (%) Fertigation

Source: TNAU

Nutrient use efficiency in fertigation is higher than conventional methods , and is one of the critical factors to soil fertility and provide for optimal nutrition as per crop requirements.

S.No Parameter Fertigation Flood + basal

1 No. of plants / ha 2470 2470

2 Planting to harvest (days) 300 - 330 330 - 430

3 Average plant ht. (ft.) 6.5 5.8 - 6.0

4 Plants harvested 99% 90%

5 Ave. weight of bunch (kg) 45 (55) 40 (45)

6 No. of hands/ bunch 11 14

7 No. fruits /hand 220 240

8 Cost of cultivation per plt.( Rs.) 67.4 70.9

9 Harvest ( m. t / ha.) 110 89

10 Cost of production (Rs / kg) 1.5 1.77

11 Benefit per ha (Rs) 915324 695734

NFCL trial data (Banana)Tissue Culture Plantlet – G9

Water saving & productivity gain under drip irrigation

Establish a yield target: the crop’stotal nutritional

needs at each stage of crop

Effectively use of existing nutrients

Fill deficit between total needs and indigenous supply

Balanced Crop Nutrition Solution

Yield enhancement

Ecological Balance

Increase Net Profit

Soil health

Customized nutrition including customized WSF’s in ready to use form delivers superior yield at affordable cost.

Site Specific Nutrient Management

Customized Nutrition and Policy Changes

True label policy by the Govt. of India in 2014: Enabled key players, especially Nagarjuna to offer innovative Crop and Stage specific water soluble fertilizers

NFCL has developed advanced WSF and MI technologies

Zetol Sure - Crop Stage Specific advanced WSF

Zetol Select - Crop Specific, Stage Specific advanced drip fertilizers

Zetol Strom - Crop Specific, Stage Specific foliar fertilizers

Superline Root Guard -World Class Technology for Subsurface Drip Irrigation (SDI) systems- Prevents Root Intrusion- Offers protection against mechanical damages

Trial Results of Customized Nutrition in Tomato

Treatments

Plant

ht (cm)

@

66

DAT

Fruit count Fruit

diameter

(cm)

Harvested

fruits per

plant

Fruit yield

%

small

fruit 70

DAT

106

DAT

kg /

plant

T /

ac

T1 – Zetol select

100% dose 77.8 80.7 33 5.52 99.7 5.21 32.00 30.60

T2 – Industrial

recommendation 77.0 58.1 28.2 5.48 78.6 4.23 24.98 22.99

T3 – Farmer

practice 74.7 38.8 16.3 5.38 56.8 3.03 17.10 29.23

• Nearly 61.8 Million hectares potential for micro irrigation• Actual area under micro irrigation is estimated at 8.5

million hectares• Positive results of fertigation trial resultsBut as per estimates, only 10% of the drip area is underfertigation

What can be the missing link in higher adoption rate of

fertigation?

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Theoretical Potential Covered Area

Micro Irrigation Opportunity in India

(acreage in million hectares)

GAP IN CONSUMPTION VS POTENTIAL

Impediments for fertigation adoption

High fertilizer costs

Lack of technical know how by

farmers

In comparison to conventional fertilizers, WSF is more expensive (1:6), and the farmer is reluctant to use in

non-commercial crops because of low CBR.Farmers tend to generally use Urea, White Potash and

Acids in Fertigation

Most of the farmers lack technical know how on fertilizer scheduling and drip management

Recommendations

• Subsidy. Rationalization of subsidy on conventional Fertilizers.• Indigenous manufacturing. Policy to increase and improve

indigenous manufacturing including use of subsidized raw materials and tax benefits on imported raw materials

• National Policy on Fertigation including micro irrigation and water soluble fertilizers.

• Training of farmers and Model demonstration farms on fertigation at block level with experts in fertigation who can solve the problems of farmers on spot, including availability of spares and servicing

• Setting up a body including all the stakeholders ( govt.depts., universities, industry) for effective spreading of fertigation.

• Setting up a fertigation hotline by the govt. for farmer support

Thank you