Integrated nutrient management for sustainable crop production, improving crop quality and soil health, and minimizing environmental pollution

Laboratory, growth chamber and multiyear field studies were conducted with prominent cropping systems of the subtropical northwestern states of India including rice–wheat, rice–mustard, rice–rapeseed, soybean– wheat, soybean–rapeseed, groundnut–wheat, and groundnut–sunflower by including legumes (moongbean, cowpea, sesbania, pigeon pea) to investigate the role of integrated nutrient management (INM) in harnessing economically-viable sustainable production, enhancing nutritive quality of the produce, improving soil health, and minimizing environmental pollution. Besides growing legumes and short-duration pulse crops in crop rotations, the effects of integrated use of organics (farmyard manure, piggery manure, poultry manure, green manures and crop residues) with chemical fertilizers, and impacts of long-term use of INM on enhancing crop productivity were studied. The results clearly demonstrated that INM enhances the yield potential of crops over and above achievable yield with recommended fertilizers, and results in better synchrony of crop N needs due to (a) slower mineralization of organics, (b) reduced N losses via denitrification and nitrate leaching, (c) enhanced nutrient use efficiency and recovery by crops, and (d) improvements in soil health and productivity, and hence could sustain high crop yields in various cropping systems ensuring long-term sustainability of the system.