Soil Fertility and Nutrient Management

Importance of Soil fertility

 
• Soil fertility is a key factor for successful crop production and it is a measure of capacity of soil to supply plant nutrients. Soil fertility and fertilizers are very much closely related terms. Soil fertility acts as a ‘SINK’ where in plants can draw nutrients for maximum yield, where as fertilizer, acts as a ‘SOURCE’ wherein we can draw continuously different nutrients and also add to the sink. The importance of soil fertility and fertilizer management is being increasingly recognized in all countries recently to meet the demand for food and other agricultural raw materials.
• Intensive use of fertilizer, intensive cropping with high yielding varieties have no doubt increased the food production and reduced the food shortage but it has also brought in numerous problems of soil fertility, soil and water pollution. On the other hand, fast depletion of nutrients due to over exploitation, a wide spread deficiency of N, P, K and S coupled with micro nutrients deficiencies especially Zn and boron has been noticed in many soils.
• Further deforestation, shifting cultivation, burning of trees, bushes, grasses and cow dung, soil erosion, soil degradation, nutrient losses, excessive fertilizer application, leaching losses etc., have aggravated the depletion of soil fertility status. It is being realized that the future of Indian agriculture is closely related to scientific management of soil fertility along with judicious and efficient use of fertilizers.
• Soil fertility problems cannot be solved by mere supply of plant food nutrients, but their efficient management is also very important aspect since the fertilizer is one of the costliest inputs. It requires a well balanced scheduling of fertilizers to get maximum returns with minimum investment. Apart from fertilizers, due to lack of biomass resources, farmers are not in a position to apply sufficient organic manures also.
• So with all these conditions soils become deficient and very “hungry” for the need of nutrients day by day. It is therefore, imperative that sound soil and crop management practices, Judicious use of fertilizers and Integrated nutrient management practices must be adapted to improve and maintain good soil fertility and better soil physical condition for the purpose of sustained crop production.