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Integrated Nutrient Management

The basic concept of integrated nutrient management (INM) or integrated plant nutrition management (IPNM) is the adjustment of plant nutrient supply to an optimum level for sustaining the desired crop productivity. It involves proper combination of chemical fertilizers, organic manure, crop residues, N2~fixing crops (like pulses such as rice bean, Black gram (Paheli dal), other pulses (seembi's) and oilseeds such as soybean and biofertilizers suitable to the system of land use and ecological, social and economic conditions. The cropping system rather than an individual crop, and farming system rather than an individual field, is the focus of attention in this approach for development INM practices for various categories

INM use five major sub-concepts, viz.
  1. Plant nutrients stored in the soil.
  2. Plant nutrients, those present in the crop residues, organic manure and domestic wastes.
  3. Plant nutrients purchased or obtained from outside the farm.
  4. Plant nutrient loosed e.g. those removed from the field in crop harvest and lost from the soil through volatilization (ammonia and nitrogen oxide gases and leaching (nitrate, sulphate etc.)
  5. Plant nutrient outputs e.g. nutrient uptake by the crops at harvest time.
    The integrated plant nutrition management on integrated nutrient management thus firstly operates at plot level, optimizing the utilization of plant nutrients from diverse sources which are locally available, in order to improve the agronomic efficiency of such nutrients and at the same time reducing the losses of nutrients. Organic recycling is especially promoted through INM for facilitating nutrient recycling to improve soil fertility and productivity at low cost. Goals of INM
To maintain soil productivity.
To ensure productive and sustainable agriculture. To reduce expenditure on costs of purchased inputs by using farm manure and crop residue etc.To utilize the potential benefits of green manures, leguminous crops and biofertilizers. To prevent degradation of the environment. To meet the social and economic aspirations of the farmers without harming the natural resource base of the agricultural production. Components of the INMThe main objective of the INM is to efficiently utilize all the sources of the plant nutrients

Implementation ofINM activities
Different stages of implementation of INM are as follows:
  1. Diagnosis phase: collection of background information.
  2. Analysis of constraints.
  3. Preparing potentiality and feasibility summary.
  4. On-farm demonstrations.
  5. Evaluation ofINM activities.

In the first stage of diagnostic phase information with regard to the following is collected and analyzed:

Farming/cropping systems Crop varieties grown Awareness about soil fertility problems.Use of chemical fertilizers, lime/dolomite and other agro-chemicals.
Use of organic manure.
Availability offertilizer and other inputs.
Irrigation sources and practices.
Soil testing service facility.
Constraints in the adoption of INM technologies.
Consideration of market opportunities.
Constraints in the adoption ofINM technologies

The INM technologies must be compatible with the local farming system if they are to find acceptance and adoption. Therefore, attention must be paid to examine the interactions among different components of INM and the management of crops and animals that form the farming system. Some of the agronomic parameters which need attention are cropping pattern, intercropping practices, biological condition of the field (weeds, diseases, insects), soil conditions, irrigation facilities and climatic conditions.

Common constraints encountered by the farmers in adoption of INM technology are as follows:

  1. Non-availability of FYM
  2. Difficulties in growing green manure crops
  3. Non-availability ofbiofertilizerscc
  4. Non-availability of soil testing facilities
  5. High cost of chemical fertilizers
  6. Non-availability of water
  7. Lack of knowledge and poor advisory services
  8. Non-availability of improved seeds
  9. Soil conditions
  10. Non-availability of credit facilities

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