Abstract
Generally, agricultural research is conducted under the controlled conditions of research stations which, in many cases, do not represent farmers’ circumstances. Thus, several technologies do not perform well in farmers’ fields and so are not adopted by farmers. Many technical factors and management practices constrain the adoption of improved technologies including efficient N management techniques: (a) poor water control; (b) low plant population; (c) partial nutrient application; (d) insufficient weed control; (e) untimely sowing, transplanting, weeding, and/or harvesting; and (f) poor postharvest processing. Unless farmers improve many, if not all, of these conditions, they cannot reap the full benefits of modern rice varieties and related production technologies. In addition, soil-related constraints such as high spatial and temporal variability in nutrient status, nutrient imbalance, poor drainage, soil degradation (salinity, alkalinity, acidity), and subsoil compaction lessen the effectiveness of nutrient management techniques. Similarly, climatic factors such as variable and unpredictable rainfall, drought, flood, low radiation, and extremes in temperature affect crop growth and nutrient use in rice systems. Most of these factors are beyond farmers’ control. Stress-tolerant rice varieties and improved management practices are being developed and evaluated on rice farms to tackle soil and climatic constraints, especially in rainfed lowland rice systems. Two of the management strategies rely on better N placement techniques and use of controlled-release fertilizers to improve nutrient use efficiency in rainfed lowlands. Some tools for site-specific N management in rice include the chlorophyll meter and the leaf color chart which are being evaluated on farmers’ fields. Another strategy is integrated nutrient management to enhance crop nutrition and minimize fertilizer costs. Adequate farmer training is needed to receive, process, and effectively exploit improved rice varieties and related information, knowledge, and technologies.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Balasubramanian V, Rabeson R, Razafinjara L, Ratsimandresy J (1995). Rice soil constraints and fertility management in the highlands of Madagascar. Pages 313–324 in Fragile lives in fragile ecosystems. International Rice Research Institute, P.O. Box 933, Manila, Philippines.
Balasubramanian V, Morales A C, Cruz R T, Abdul Rachman S (1996) Farmers’ evaluation of knowledge-intensive nitrogen management technologies to sustain rice yields under irrigated conditions in Asia. Paper presented at the Expert Consultation on Technological Evolution and Impact for Sustainable Rice Production in Asia and the Pacific, 29–31 Oct 1996, FAO Regional Office, Bangkok, Thailand.
Balasubramanian V, Morales A C, Cruz R T, Abdul Rachman S (1998) On-farm adaptation of knowledge-intensive nitrogen management technologies for rice systems. Nutr. Cycles Agroecosyst. (in press)
Bhuiyan S I, Sattar M A, Tabbal D F (1994) Wet-seeded rice: water use efficiency and productivity, and constraints to wider adoption. Paper presented at the Workshop on constraints, opportunities, and innovations for wet seeded rice, 31 May–3 Jun 1994, Bangkok, Thailand. 19 p.
Burch J A, Fox R H (1989) The effect of temperature and initial soil moisture content on the volatilization of ammonia from surface applied urea. Soil Sci. 147: 311–318.
Cai G X, Peng G H, Wang X Z, Zhu J W, Zhu Z L (1992) Ammonia volatilization from urea applied to acid paddy soil in southern China and its control. Pedosphere 2: 345–354.
Cao Z H, De Datta S K, Fillery I R P (1984) Nitrogen-15 balance and residual effects of urea-N in wetland ricefields as affected by deep placement techniques. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 48: 203–208.
Celton J, Marquette J (1972) Plaine de Tananarive: Resultats des essais agronomiques de la campaigne 1971–72. Document No. 359. IRAM/IRAT, Antananarivo, Madagascar. 14 p.
Daftardar S Y, Savant N K (1995) Evaluation of environment-friendly fertilizer management for rainfed lowland rice on tribal farmers’ fields in India. Pages 173–186 in Fragile lives in fragile ecosystems. P.O. Box 933, Manila, Philippines: International Rice Research Institute.
De Datta S K (1986) Improving N fertilizer efficiency in lowland rice in tropical Asia. Fert. Res. 9: 171–186.
De Datta S K, Buresh R J (1989) Integrated nitrogen management in irrigated rice. Adv. Soil Sci. 40: 143–169.
FAO—Food and Agriculture Organization (1994) Special programme for food security in Burkina Faso: exploratory mission report, 8–25 Nov 1994. 23 p.
Fillery I R P, Simpson R, De Datta S K (1986) Contribution of ammonia volatilization to total nitrogen loss after application of urea to wetland rice fields. Fert. Res. 8: 195–202.
Freney J R, Trevitt A C F, De Datta S K, Obcemea W N, Real J G (1990) The interdependence of ammonia volatilization and denitrification as nitrogen loss process in flooded rice fields in Philippines. Biol. Fert. Soils 9: 31–36.
Furuya S (1987) Growth diagnosis of rice plants by means of leaf color. Jpn. Agric. Res. Q. 20: 147–153.
George T, Ladha J K, Garrity D P, Buresh R J (1994) Legumes as nitrate catch crops during the dry-to-wet transition in lowland rice cropping systems. Agron. J. 86: 267–273.
Hill J E, Bayer D E, Bocchi S, Clampett W S (1991) Direct seeded rice in the temperate climates of Australia, Italy, and the United States. Pages 91–102 in Direct seeded flooded rice in the tropics. International Rice Research Institute, P.O. Box 933, Manila, Philippines.
INSFFER-International Network on Soil Fertility and Fertilizer Evaluation for Rice (1985) Summary reports on the fifth international trial on nitrogen fertilizer efficiency in irrigated wetland rice (1981–84). International Rice Research Institute, P.O. Box 933, Manila, Philippines.
INSFFER-International Network on Soil Fertility and Fertilizer Evaluation for Rice (1986) Progress report on the first international trial in comparison of hand and machine applied prilled urea and urea supergranules in lowland rice (1984–85). International Rice Research Institute, P.O. Box 933, Manila, Philippines.
Kanno H, Shoji S (1994) A new fertilizer placement method-co-situs placement using controlled availability fertilizers. Pages 492–493 in Transactions of the 15th World Congress of Soil Science, Acapulco, Mexico, 10–16 Jul 1994. Vol 5b. International Society of Soil Science, Vienna, Austria.
Kissel D E, Cabrera M L, Ferguson R B (1988) Reaction of ammonia and urea hydrolysis products with soil. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 52: 1739–1796.
Kumar V, Shrotriya G C, Kaore S V (Eds.) (1989) Soil fertility and fertilizer use. Vol. III. Urea supergranules for increasing nitrogen use efficiency. Indian Farmers Fertilizer Cooperative, New Delhi, India. 143 p.
Kundu D K, Ladha J K, Lapitan-de Guzman E (1996) Tillage depth influence on soil nitrogen distribution and availability in a rice lowland. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 60: 1153–1159.
Malabanan F M (1993) Association of seed vigor with field performance of high-yielding and traditional rice (Oryza sativa L.) cultivars. Ph D dissertation, University of the Philippines Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines.
McGarry S J, O’Toole P, Morgan M A (1987) Effect of soil temperature and moisture content on ammonia volatilization from urea-treated pasture and tillage soils. Irish J. Agric. Res. 26: 173–182.
Mishra B, Tyagi N K (1986) Highlights of research on crops and varieties for salt affected soils. Central Soil Salinity Research Institute, Karnal, India. 28 p.
My T V, Tuong T P, Xuan V T, Nghiep N T (1995) Dry seeding rice for increased cropping intensity in Long An Province, Vietnam. Pages 111–122 in Denning G L, Xuan V T (Eds.) Vietnam and IRRI: a partnership in rice research. International Rice Research Institute, P.O. Box V33, Manila, Philippines.
O’Brien D T, Irawan, Prawirasumantri J (1985) Economic evaluation of alternative methods of urea deep placement in rice. Special Publication SP-6. International Fertilizer Development Center, Muscle Shoals, Alabama, USA. p. 51–54.
ODR-Operation developpement recherche (1993) Ministere de la vulgarisation agricole. Antananarivo, Madagascar.
Padmaja P, Koshy M M (1978) A note on the runoff losses of nutrients in water logged rice soil. J. Indian Soc. Soil Sci. 26: 74–75.
Panda D, Samantaray R N, Patnaik S (1988) Management of fertilizer nitrogen for direct sown, rainfed lowland rice (Oryza sativa L.). J. Agric. Sci. UK 110: 475–479.
Pandey S (1998) Farmer adoption of nutrient management technologies: Economic and institutional constraints and opportunities. Nutr. Cycles Agroecosyst. (in press)
Peng S, Garcia F V, Laza R C, Sanico A L, Visperas R M, Cassman K G (1996) Increased N-use efficiency using a chlorophyll meter on high-yielding irrigated rice. Field Crops Res. 47: 243–252.
Peterson T A, Blackmer T M, Francis D D, Schepers J S (1993) Using a chlorophyll meter to improve N management. A Nebguide in Soil Resource Management: D-13, Fertility. Cooperative Extension, Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, USA.
Savant N K, Ongkingco P S, Garcia F D, Dhane S S, Khadse R R, Chavan S A, Rao KS (1992) Agronomie performance of urea briquette applicator in transplanted rice. Fert. Res. 32: 139–142.
Schnier H F, Dingkuhn M, De Datta S K, Marqueses E P. Farolina J E (1990) Nitrogen-15 balance in transplanted and direct seeded flooded rice as affected by different methods of urea application. Biol. Fert. Soils 10: 89–96.
Singh B, Singh Y, Khind C C, Meelu O P (1991) Leaching losses of urea-N applied to permeable soils under lowland rice. Fert. Res. 28: 179–184.
Takamura Y, Tabuchi T, Sujuki S, Hangal Y, Uneno T, Kubuta H (1976) The fate and balance sheet of fertilizer nitrogen and phosphorus: 1. Applied to rice paddy field in the Kasumigaura Basin. J. Sci. Soil Manure, Japan 47: 398–405.
Tandon H L S (1989). Urea supergranules for increasing nitrogen efficiency in rice—an overview. Pages 10–22 in Kumar V, Shrotriya G C, Kaore S V (Eds.) Soil fertility and fertilizer use. Vol. III. Urea supergranules for increasing nitrogen use efficiency. Indian Farmers Fertilizer Cooperative, New Delhi, India.
Tran D V (1996) Evolution of rice yield in Asia and the Pacific. Paper presented at the Expert Consultation on Technological Evolution and Impact for Sustainable Rice Production in Asia and the Pacific, 29–31 Oct 1996, FAO Regional Office, Bangkok, Thailand. 18 p.
Turner F T, Jund M F (1991) Chlorophyll meter to predict nitrogen topdress requirement for semidwarf rice. Agron. J. 83: 926–928.
Turner F T, Jund M F (1994) Assessing the nitrogen requirements of rice crops with a chlorophyll meter method. Aust. J.Exp. Agric. 34: 1001–1005.
Vlek PLG, Byrnes B H, Crasswell E T (1980) Effect of urea placement on leaching losses of nitrogen from flooded rice soils. Plant Soil 54: 441–449.
Wetselaar R (1985) Deep-point placed urea in a flooded soil: a mechanistic view. In: Special Publication SP-6. International Fertilizer Development Center, Muscle Shoals, Alabama, USA. p.7–14.
Yamauchi M, Aragones D V, Casayuron P R, Winn T, Borlagdan P C, Quick G R, Aguilar A M, Cruz R T, Sta. Cruz P C, Asis C A (1994) Rice anaerobic direct seeding in the tropics. Paper presented at the workshop on constraints, opportunities, and innovations for wet seeded rice, 31 May – 3 Jun 1994, Bangkok, Thailand, p 19.
Zeigler R S, Puckridge D W (1995) Improving sustainable productivity in rice-based rainfed lowland systems of South and Southeast Asia. GeoJournal 35: 307–324.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1999 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Balasubramanian, V. (1999). Farmer adoption of improved nitrogen management technologies in rice farming: technical constraints and opportunities for improvement. In: Balasubramanian, V., Ladha, J.K., Denning, G.L. (eds) Resource Management in Rice Systems: Nutrients. Developments in Plant and Soil Sciences, vol 81. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-5078-1_10
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-5078-1_10
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-010-6133-9
Online ISBN: 978-94-011-5078-1
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive