Conservation agriculture farming practices for optimizing water and fertilizer use efficiency in ...

270 Pages·2015·6.64 MB·English

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INTERNATIONAL
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Managing Water and Fertilizer for
Sustainable Agricultural Intensification
A reference guide to improve general understanding of the best management
practices for the use of water and fertilizers throughout the world to enhance
crop production, improve farm profitability and resource efficiency, and reduce
environmental impacts related to crop production.
Edited by
Pay Drechsel
Patrick Heffer
Hillel Magen
Robert Mikkelsen
Dennis Wichelns
International Fertilizer Industry Association (IFA), International Water Management Institute (IWMI),
International Plant Nutrition Institute (IPNI), and International Potash Institute (IPI)
Paris, France, January 2015
ii
The designation employed and the presentation of material in this infor-
mation product do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever
on the part of IFA, IWMI, IPNI and IPI. This includes matters pertaining to
the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or its authorities, or
concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.
Drechsel, P., Heffer, P., Magen, H., Mikkelsen, R., Wichelns, D. (Eds.) 2015. Managing Water and Fertilizer
for Sustainable Agricultural Intensification. International Fertilizer Industry Association (IFA), Internatio-
nal Water Management Institute (IWMI), International Plant Nutrition Institute (IPNI), and International
Potash Institute (IPI). First edition, Paris, France. Copyright 2015 IFA, IWMI, IPNI and IPI. All rights reserved
ISBN 979-10-92366-02-0
International Fertilizer Industry Association International Water Management Institute
28, rue Marbeuf, 75008 Paris, France P.O. Box 2075, Colombo, Sri Lanka
[email protected] [email protected]
www.fertilizer.org/library www.iwmi.cgiar.org
INTERNATIONAL
POTASH INSTITUTE
International Plant Nutrition Institute International Potash Institute
3500 Parkway Lane, Suite 550 Baumgärtlistrasse 17
Peachtree Corners, GA 30092, USA P.O. Box 260, 8810 Horgen, Switzerland
[email protected] [email protected]
www.ipni.net www.ipipotash.org
Printed in France
Cover photos: (left) Graeme Williams/IWMI, (right) Neil Palmer/IWMI.
Layout: Claudine Aholou-Putz
Graphics: Hélène Ginet
iii
Contents
Foreword v
Frank Rijsberman
Acknowledgements vii
List of abbreviations and symbols viii
Chapter 1. Managing water and nutrients to ensure global food security, while
sustaining ecosystem services 1
P ay Drechsel, Patrick Heffer, Hillel Magen, Robert Mikkelsen, Harmandeep Singh and
Dennis Wichelns
Chapter 2. Nutrient/fertilizer use efficiency: Measurement, current situation and trends 8
P aul Fixen, Frank Brentrup, Tom W. Bruulsema, Fernando Garcia, Rob Norton and
Shamie Zingore
Chapter 3. Water use efficiency in agriculture: Measurement, current situation
and trends 39
Bharat Sharma, David Molden and Simon Cook
Chapter 4. 4R nutrient stewardship: A global framework for sustainable fertilizer
management 65
Harold F. Reetz, Jr., Patrick Heffer and Tom W. Bruulsema
Chapter 5. Genetic improvement of water and nitrogen use to increase crop yields:
A whole plant physiological perspective 87
Thomas R. Sinclair and Thomas W. Rufty
Chapter 6. Crop productivity and water and nutrient use efficiency in humid and
subhumid areas 109
Wade E. Thomason, Abdoulaye Mando, André Bationo, Maria Balota and William Payne
Chapter 7. Nutrient management and water use efficiency for sustainable
production of rain-fed crops in the World’s dry areas 140
Bijay Singh, John Ryan, Con Campbell and Roland Kröbel
Chapter 8. Challenges of increasing water and nutrient efficiency in irrigated
agriculture 168
Robert L. Mikkelsen, Timothy K. Hartz and M.J. Mohammad Rusan
iv Managing water and fertilizer for sustainable agricultural intensification
Chapter 9. N utrient and fertilizer management in rice systems with varying supply
of water 187
Roland J. Buresh
Chapter 10. P ractices that simultaneously optimize water and nutrient use efficiency:
Israeli experiences in fertigation and irrigation with treated wastewater 209
Asher Bar-Tal, Pinchas Fine, Uri Yermiyahu, Alon Ben-Gal and Amir Hass
Chapter 11. C onservation agriculture farming practices for optimizing water and
fertilizer use efficiency in Central Asia 242
Mina Devkota, Krishna P. Devkota, Raj K. Gupta, Kenneth D. Sayre,
Christopher Martius and John P.A. Lamers
v
Foreword
Frank Rijsberman1
Ask anyone outside agriculture to describe the most important technological advance
of the 20th century, and the likely suggestion will be something pertaining to computer
technology or the internet. But ask an agricultural researcher, and you’ll likely receive
a very different answer. The most important advance of the 20th century was the Haber-
Bosch process that enables the artificial manufacturing of nitrogen fertilizer to produce
the food we need. It is fitting that both Fritz Haber and Carl Bosch were awarded Nobel
Prizes in 1918 and 1931, respectively, for their work in chemistry and engineering.
Yet, crops cannot thrive by nitrogen alone. Long ago (in the 19th century) Carl Sprengel
and Justus von Liebig put forth the Law of the Minimum, in which they described how
plant growth is limited by the nutrient that is available in shortest supply. Thus, the crop
response to additional increments of nitrogen might be nil if potassium or phosphorus
or some other essential nutrient is limiting. The same can be said for soil moisture. Plant
nutrients, alone, are not sufficient to grow or sustain plant growth without water, and
vice versa. And in this day and age of increasing economic and physical water scarcity
and an increasing portion of farm expenses attributed to chemical fertilizer, farmers
must manage both inputs very closely to ensure they achieve high yields and obtain
good returns on their investments, while reducing the possible negative impacts of
water and nutrient use on the environment and ecosystem services.
Those of us working in academia, research institutes, and donor organizations must
continue to enhance our understanding of agronomy, soil fertility and crop nutrition,
and water management to feed the 9 billion people we are expecting by 2050. We
need to increase adoption of existing techniques and develop new technologies and
crop varieties, if we are to achieve the gains in food production needed. Affordable
improvements in nutrient and water management will be especially crucial for the
millions of smallholder households that struggle to produce sufficient food and income
to sustain their precarious livelihoods in both rain-fed and irrigated settings. Sound
agricultural development will remain the backbone for the achievement of many of
the proposed Sustainable Development Goals from poverty alleviation to food security.
This book is a timely contribution as it cuts across the water and fertilizer sectors and
summarizes the state-of-the-art knowledge on plant nutrition and water management
and the challenges we face in achieving the food security component of the Sustainable
Development Goals. The authors describe our current understanding of plant nutrient
and water interactions, while looking ahead to the best management practices and
innovations that will propel crop production to higher levels. The authors also address
1 CGIAR Consortium, Montpellier, France, [email protected]
vi Managing water and fertilizer for sustainable agricultural intensification
the issue of sustainability, as only those options that achieve food security and livelihood
goals, while also protecting ecosystem services, will be acceptable in the 21st century.
We have come a long way since the remarkable insights and innovation provided
by research pioneers in the 19th and 20th centuries. The fundamental principles of
agronomy, plant science, and hydrology are well established and timeless. Yet, with
increases in population and advances in economic growth, we face new challenges
in each century, with regard to food security, livelihoods, and the environment. We
can meet the challenges ahead, provided we continue to innovate and integrate our
research programmes and transfer new knowledge effectively to farmers and other
agriculturists seeking to optimize the interactions between plant nutrients, water, and
other agricultural inputs in a sustainable manner. The same integration of efforts is
required for those working on sustainable agricultural development at different scales.
This book will inform and inspire those engaged in this pursuit.
vii
Acknowledgements
Appreciation is expressed for the thoughtful comments and suggestions provided by the
following scientists, who contributed their time as peer reviewers:
• Mark Alley, Alley Agronomics, LLC, United States
• Akica Bahri, African Water Facility, Tunisia
• Fred Below, University of Illinois, United States
• Kevin Bronson, United States Department of Agriculture – Agricultural Research
Service (USDA-ARS), United States
• Tim Ellis, International Water Management Institute (IWMI), Ghana
• Cynthia Grant, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), Canada
• Graeme Hammer, The University of Queensland, Australia
• Elizabeth Humphreys, International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Philippines
• Jiyun Jin, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), China
• J.K. Ladha, International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), India
• Stephen Loss, International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas
(ICARDA), Jordan
• Michael McLaughlin, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research
Organisation (CSIRO) and University of Adelaide, Australia
• Tom Obreza, University of Florida, United States
• Theib Oweis, International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas
(ICARDA), Jordan
• Steve Petrie, Yara, United States
• Manzoor Qadir, United Nations University – Institute for Water, Environment and
Health (UNU-INWEH), Canada
• Abdul Rashid, Pakistan Academy of Sciences, Pakistan
• John Sadler, United States Department of Agriculture – Agricultural Research
Service (USDA-ARS), United States, United States
• Pradeep Sharma, Himachal Pradesh Agricultural University, India
• Patrick Wall, Independent Agricultural Research Consultant (Development of
Sustainable Agricultural Systems), Mexico
• Sudhir Yadav, International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), India
Appreciation is also expressed to Kingsley Kurukulasuriya (Freelance International
Editor, Sri Lanka), who edited all the chapters, for his valuable contribution to the book.