On-farm Fertility Management through Target Yield Approach for Sustenance of Tribal Farmers
Kasthuri Rajamani *
Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University, Regional Agricultural Research Station, Palem, Telangana, India
A. Madhavi
AICRP on STCR, Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University, Hyderabad, Telangana, India
T. Srijaya
AICRP on STCR, Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University, Hyderabad, Telangana, India
P. Surendra Babu
AICRP on Micro-Nutrients, Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University, Hyderabad,Telangana, India
Pradip Dey
AICRP on STCR, Indian Institute of Soil Science, ICAR, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
The demonstrations on on-farm fertility management through desired yield target were conducted with castor and maize crops at 15 farmers’ fields during rabi 2016-17 at Peddatanda and Sainapally tanda of Nagarkurnool District, Telangana to improve sustenance of tribal farmers and to verify the fertilizer prescription models & to analyze the economics of these models to enhance the productivity and profitability. The results revealed that the targeted yield prescription models ensured higher seed yield, response yard-stick and nutrient ratio to the applied fertilizers, and additional benefits from higher produce, a good benefit-cost ratio obtained over the farmers’ practice. The seed yield from the pre-fixed targets of 25 and 60 q ha-1 of castor and maize were achieved within ± 10 % yield deviation at almost all the locations, which ensure for further nourishment of tribal farmers. The targeted yield prescription models for fertilizer recommendations were more precise to achieve the targeted yield, additionally led to higher profits and soil health.
Keywords: Farm fertility, management, tribal farmers, yield models, India