Efficient Fertilizer and Water management in Rice Cultivation for Food Security and Mitigating Greenhouse Gas Emissions
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Date
2018
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Abstract
Increasing nitrogen fertilizer application has increased crop productivity and met the food demands of growing populations, but its use efficiency is very low. More than 50% of applied nitrogen is not utilized by crops, posing huge economic costs and environmental concerns. Therefore, fertilizer management should consider optimum source, rates, time, and methods of application (the “4Rs” of nutrient stewardship) to increase use efficiency, crop yield, soil health, and farm profits and to reduce negative environmental effects. Fertilizer deep placement (FDP) is one of the best currently applicable management techniques to achieve these multiple benefits. Multi-location experiments were conducted in Bangladesh to determine the effects of urea deep placement (UDP) and multi-nutrient fertilizer briquette (NPK) deep placement versus broadcast prilled urea (PU) on rice yields, nitrogen use efficiency, and nitrogen losses, including floodwater ammonium, ammonia volatilization, and nitrous oxide emissions. Deep placement of both urea and NPK briquettes in the dry (Boro) season increased grain yields. Across the years, the average observed yield increase was 30% compared to broadcast PU. Deep placement significantly reduced nitrogen losses compared to broadcast PU. Broadcast PU resulted in higher amounts of ammonium in floodwater and ammonia volatilization, both of which were negligible in deep-placed treatments. Moreover, UDP reduced nitrous oxide emissions by 70% as compared to broadcast PU. In Bangladesh, fertilizer briquettes are produced by micro-enterprises and applied manually in fields. This approach is effective in small-scale farming where household labor is sufficient for cultivation but requires modifications to work in larger scale farming systems where labor availability is an issue. Another issue relates to the nonavailability of fertilizer briquettes throughout the country. Therefore, for large-scale dissemination in other rice-growing countries in Asia, including China and India where greater N use efficiency gains can be realized, government and/or private sector actors must work together to promote wide-scale adoption by farmers through industrial-level briquette production and mechanized on-farm application.
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Keywords
Water management, Rice
Citation
Gaihre, Y.K., U. Singh, S.M.M. Islam, A. Huda, M.R. Islam, and J.C. Biswas. 2018. “Efficient Fertilizer and Water Management in Rice Cultivation for Food Security and Mitigating Greenhouse Gas Emissions,” IN Myanmar Soil Fertility and Fertilizer Management Conference Proceedings, pp. 214-220, IFDC and DAR, Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar.