This archive report was first published on 16 September 2021.
Published on September 16, 2021, a team of scientists conducted a comprehensive systematic review comparing the site-specific nutrient management (SSNM) approach to farmers' practice within smallholder cereal crop production systems in Africa and Asia.
The study, titled 'Co-benefits of nutrient management tailored to smallholder agriculture,' published in the Global Food Security-Elsevier journal, found that SSNM generated 12% higher yield and 15% greater profitability compared to traditional farmer practice.
Researchers compared the two fertiliser management practices for maize, rice, and wheat, and found that farmers using SSNM used on average 10% less fertiliser nitrogen, improving nitrogen use efficiency and reducing losses to volatilisation, leaching, and runoff.
Key results from the study showed that SSNM produced these benefits while saving an average of 18 kg N/ha, equivalent to a 10% reduction in the amount of nitrogen fertiliser, reducing the risk of nitrogen loss to the surrounding environment.
On average, yield gains were 0.6 tonne per hectare (12%), gross return increased by 12%, and gross return above fertiliser cost was 15% higher with SSNM compared to farmers' fertilisation practice.
Researchers found that farmers' average profit increased by $140 per hectare, achieved with about 18kg less nitrogen fertiliser per hectare, and attributed the increased nitrogen use efficiency in SSNM to differences in frequencies and timing of fertiliser application.
