Integrated Nutrient

Management
LEARNING OUTCOMES
• To learn the concept of INM and Sustainable
Agriculture
• To identify and learn the different strategies in
rehabilitating infertile soils following the concept
of INM
INTRODUCTION
• The main challenge that
agriculture planners
and farmers are facing
is the population
explosion and
diminishing natural
resources
INTRODUCTION
• Because of this, there is
also a concern on the
growing scarcity of land
and water
• To compensate, most
agriculture plans rely on
the use of chemical
fertilizers and HYVs
SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE
• GOAL: to meet society’s food and textile needs in
the present without compromising the ability of
future generations to meet their own needs
• THREE MAIN OBJECTIVES:
a) Healthy environment
b) Economic profitability
c) Social and economic equity
SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE
5 KEY PRINCIPLES:

- Facilitate access to productive resources, finance and services

- Connect smallholders to markets
- Encourage diversification of production and income
- Build producers’ knowledge and develop their capacities
SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE
5 KEY PRINCIPLES:

- Enhance soil health and restore land

- Protect water and manage scarcity
- Mainstream biodiversity and protect ecosystem functions
- Reduce losses, encourage reuse and recycle, and promote sustainable
consumption
SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE
5 KEY PRINCIPLES:

- Empower people and fight inequalities

- Promote secure tenure rights for men and women
- Use social protection tools to enhance productivity and income
- Improve nutrition and promote balanced diets
SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE
5 KEY PRINCIPLES:

- Prevent and protect against shocks: enhance resilience

- Prepare for and respond to shocks
- Address and adapt to climate change
- Strengthen ecosystem resilience
SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE
5 KEY PRINCIPLES:

- Enhance policy dialogue and coordination

- Strengthen innovation systems
- Adapt and improve investment and finance
- Strengthen the enabling environment and reform the institutional framewok
SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE
- Agroforestry
- Cover Cropping
- Food Waste Management
- Integrated Pest Management
- Organic Farming
- Precision Agriculture
- Urban Agriculture
- Integrated Nutrient Management
SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE
- Agroforestry
- Cover Cropping
- Food Waste Management
- Integrated Pest Management
- Organic Farming
- Precision Agriculture
- Urban Agriculture
- INTEGRATED NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT
INTRODUCTION
• The fertility of the soil is
essential to the
suitability of both
natural and managed
ecosystems because it
is the medium from
which terrestrial
production emanates.
INTRODUCTION
• If soil fertility declines, it
is important to employ
appropriate
management strategies
to restore soil fertility
• INM will come to the
rescue
INTEGRATED NUTRIENT
MANAGEMENT
• A practice where all sources of nutrients –
organic, inorganic (chemical fertilizer), and
biofertilizers – can be combined and applied to
soils so that crop growth and yield quality are
optimized
INTEGRATED NUTRIENT
MANAGEMENT
• The basic concept of INM is the maintenance or
adjustment of soil fertility and of plant nutrient
supply to an optimum level for sustaining the
desired crop productivity through optimization
of the benefits from all possible sources of plant
nutrients in an integrated manner
• It is an important component of Sustainable
Agriculture
INTEGRATED NUTRIENT
MANAGEMENT
• Five major concepts:
 Plant nutrients stored in the soils
 Plant nutrients, those present in the crop residues,
organic manure, and domestic wastes
 Plant nutrients purchased or obtained from outside
the farm
 Plant nutrient loses, e.g., those removed from the field
in crop harvest and lost from the soil through
volatilization
 Plant nutrient outputs, e.g., nutrient uptake by crops
at harvest time
INTEGRATED NUTRIENT
MANAGEMENT
• The main goal in INM is to find the most effective
and homogeneous combination that can lead to
good fertilizer management, sufficient and
balanced use of fertilizer quantity and quality,
and direct uptake by plants for higher yield
without jeopardizing soil native nutrients or
polluting the environment.
WHY IS INM NEEDED?
BECAUSE…
• Increasing use of chemical fertilizers to increase crop
production is causing concern for the following reasons:
 Soil supplied through chemical fertilizers are showing declining
productivity
 The decline in productivity can be attributed to the appearance
of deficiency in secondary and micronutrients
 Soil physical condition is deteriorated as a result of long-term
use of chemical fertilizers, esp. the nitrogenous ones
 Excess nitrogen leaches towards bodies of water and can cause
eutrophication
INM vs. Conventional Farming
• In conventional farming, people gave more emphasis on
grain yield through use of chemical fertilizers, high-
yielding varieties and chemical pesticides
• In INM, it integrates/combines objectives of production
with ecology and environment, that is, optimum crop
nutrition, optimum functioning of the soil health, and
minimum nutrient losses or other adverse effects on the
environment
Advantages of INM
• Enhances the availability of applied and native
soil nutrient
• Synchronization of nutrient demand from native
supply and applied sources
• Provides balanced nutrition of crops
• Improves physical, chemical, and biological
functioning of the soil
Advantages of INM
• Minimizes the deterioration of soil, water, and
ecosystem by promoting carbon sequestration
• Reduction in nutrient losses to ground surface
water bodies and atmosphere
• Restore organic matter and enhances nutrient
use efficiency
• Sustain crop productivity by minimizing
production cost and increasing profitability
Constraints of INM
• Non-availability of FYM, biofertilizers, soil testing
facilities, and water
• Lack of knowledge and skills, poor advisory
services
• Biotic and abiotic stresses
• Poor tillage
• Lack of equipment
• Absence of extension services and NGOs
COMPONENTS OF INM
Components of INM
i. Integration of soil
fertility restoring crops
like green manures,
legumes, etc.
Components of INM
ii. Recycling of crop
residues
Components of INM
iii. Use of organic
manures like farmyard
manure, compost,
vermicompost, biogas,
slurry, poultry manure,
biocompost, mudpress
cakes
Components of INM
iv. Utilization of biofertilizers
Components of INM
v.Use of efficient
genotypes
 Varieties that
efficiently use nutrient
sources
Components of INM
vi. Balanced use of fertilizer nutrients as per the
requirement and target yields
GOALS OF INM
Goals of INM
a. To ensure productive and sustainable agriculture
b. To reduce expenditures on costs of purchased inputs
by using FYM and crop residue, etc
c. To utilize the potential benefits of green manures,
leguminous crops and biofertilizers
d. To prevent degradation of the environment
e. To meet the social and economic aspiration of the
farmers without harming the natural resource base of
agricultural production
BENEFITS OF INM
Benefits of INM
Benefits of INM
a. INM effects on soil fertility
and productivity
• Helps in replacing traditional
methods, thereby, decreasing
nutrient losses and their
harmful effects on the
environment while
maintaining higher crop yield
and advanced profits
Benefits of INM
b. INM effects on environment
and food security
• Has made significant
contributions to reducing
negative environmental impact,
increasing both the quantity and
quality traits of global food
supplies, and expanding land with
a plan of sustainable and
economical agricultural
development
Benefits of INM
b. INM effects on environment
and food security
• Has made significant
contributions to reducing
negative environmental impact,
increasing both the quantity and
quality traits of global food
supplies, and expanding land with
a plan of sustainable and
economical agricultural
development
Benefits of INM
c. INM for improving soil
structure and water
conservation
• Improve SOC content,
aggregate stability, moisture
retention capacity,
physicochemical properties,
water infiltration, WHC, soil FC,
permeability, economic water
use, and water use efficiency
Benefits of INM
d. INM effect on crop yield
• Plays a significant role in plant
vigour particularly in areas
connected to root development,
water and nutrient uptake, and
dry matter buildup.
• Critical in enhancing plant
development in terms of plant
height, dry weight
accumulation, leaf area, LAI,
LAD, and CGR
Benefits of INM
c. INM effect on crop yield
• Plays a significant role in plant
vigour particularly in areas
connected to root development,
water and nutrient uptake, and
dry matter buildup.
• Critical in enhancing plant
development in terms of plant
height, dry weight
accumulation, leaf area, LAI,
LAD, and CGR
Benefits of INM
e. Residual effects of INM on
succeeding crops
• Important tool for assessing soil
nutrient reserves, restoring soil
health, and advancing the
biological and physicochemical
properties of soil which are
important in assessing yield of
both current and succeeding
crops
Soil Fertility Management
Practices
Soil Fertility Management
Practices
a) Fertilizer Application
b) Lime Application
c) Good Soil and Crop Management Practices
Soil Fertility Management
Practices
a) Fertilizer Application
• Know the nutrient requirement
• Choose the right kind of fertilizers
• Know the amount of fertilizers
• Know the proper method of fertilizer application
 Broadcasting
 Localized placement
 Seed pelleting
 Foliar application
 Fertigation
 Aerial application
Soil Fertility Management
Practices
b) Lime application
• Liming material is applied to raise the pH of an acidic
soil to a pH level that
 Favors the availability of most essential nutrients
and prevents the development of some nutrient
toxicities
 Favors the activity of beneficial microorganism
 Favors the healthy growth of plant roots
Soil Fertility Management
Practices
b) Lime application
Soil Fertility Management
Practices
c) Good Soil and Crop Management Practices
• crop rotation
• cover cropping
• contour farming
• strip cropping
• organic matter amendments
• green manuring
Soil Fertility Management
Practices
c) Good Soil and Crop Management Practices
• crop rotation: growing different plants in
succession (must include a legume crop)
Soil Fertility Management
Practices
c) Good Soil and Crop Management Practices
• Cover cropping: crops that are grown to cover
soil
Soil Fertility Management
Practices
c) Good Soil and Crop Management Practices
• Contour farming: tillage practice applied
across the slope/contour
Soil Fertility Management
Practices
c) Good Soil and Crop Management Practices
• Strip cropping: growing alternate crops/strips
of clean cultivates
Soil Fertility Management
Practices
c) Good Soil and Crop Management Practices
• Organic matter amendments: addition of
supplemental organic residues
LABORATORY GROUP ACTIVITY