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Fertilizer Application on Crop Yield agronomy Fertilizer Application on Crop Yield Edited by Jagadish Timsina Printed Edition of the Special Issue Published in Agronomy www.mdpi.com/journal/agronomy Fertilizer Application on Crop Yield Fertilizer Application on Crop Yield Special Issue Editor Jagadish Timsina MDPI • Basel • Beijing • Wuhan • Barcelona • Belgrade Special Issue Editor Jagadish Timsina University of Melbourne Australia Editorial Office MDPI St. Alban-Anlage 66 4052 Basel, Switzerland This is a reprint of articles from the Special Issue published online in the open access journal Agronomy (ISSN 2073-4395) from 2018 to 2019 (available at: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/agronomy/ special issues/Fertilizer Crop Yield) For citation purposes, cite each article independently as indicated on the article page online and as indicated below: LastName, A.A.; LastName, B.B.; LastName, C.C. Article Title. Journal Name Year, Article Number, Page Range. ISBN 978-3-03897-654-7 (Pbk) ISBN 978-3-03897-655-4 (PDF) c 2019 by the authors. Articles in this book are Open Access and distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license, which allows users to download, copy and build upon published articles, as long as the author and publisher are properly credited, which ensures maximum dissemination and a wider impact of our publications. The book as a whole is distributed by MDPI under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND. Contents About the Special Issue Editor ...................................... vii Preface to ”Fertilizer Application on Crop Yield” ........................... ix Jagadish Timsina Can Organic Sources of Nutrients Increase Crop Yields to Meet Global Food Demand? Reprinted from: Agronomy 2018, 8, 214, doi:10.3390/agronomy8100214 ............... 1 Bijay- Singh Are Nitrogen Fertilizers Deleterious to Soil Health? Reprinted from: Agronomy 2018, 8, 48, doi:10.3390/agronomy8040048 ................ 21 Sheetal Sharma, Rajeev Padbhushan and Upendra Kumar Integrated Nutrient Management in Rice–Wheat Cropping System: An Evidence on Sustainability in the Indian Subcontinent through Meta-Analysis Reprinted from: Agronomy 2019, 9, 71, doi:10.3390/agronomy9020071 ................ 40 Vinod K. Singh, Brahma S. Dwivedi, Rajendra P. Mishra, Arvind K. Shukla, Jagadish Timsina, Pravin K. Upadhyay, Kapila Shekhawat, Kaushik Majumdar and Azad S. Panwar Yields, Soil Health and Farm Profits under a Rice-Wheat System: Long-Term Effect of Fertilizers and Organic Manures Applied Alone and in Combination Reprinted from: Agronomy 2019, 9, 1, doi:10.3390/agronomy9010001 ................ 55 Ruth Njoroge, Abigael N. Otinga, John R. Okalebo, Mary Pepela and Roel Merckx Maize (Zea mays L.) Response to Secondary and Micronutrients for Profitable N, P and K Fertilizer Use in Poorly Responsive Soils Reprinted from: Agronomy 2018, 8, 49, doi:10.3390/agronomy8040049 ................ 77 Dale Loussaert, Josh Clapp, Nick Mongar, Dennis P. O’Neill and Bo Shen Nitrate Assimilation Limits Nitrogen Use Efficiency (NUE) in Maize (Zea mays L.) Reprinted from: Agronomy 2018, 8, 110, doi:10.3390/agronomy8070110 ............... 97 Saiful Islam, Jagadish Timsina, Muhammad Salim, Kaushik Majumdar and Mahesh K Gathala Potassium Supplying Capacity of Diverse Soils and K-Use Efficiency of Maize in South Asia Reprinted from: Agronomy 2018, 8, 121, doi:10.3390/agronomy8070121 ...............120 Francesco Rossini, Maria Elena Provenzano, Francesco Sestili and Roberto Ruggeri Synergistic Effect of Sulfur and Nitrogen in the Organic and Mineral Fertilization of Durum Wheat: Grain Yield and Quality Traits in the Mediterranean Environment Reprinted from: Agronomy 2018, 8, 189, doi:10.3390/agronomy8090189 ...............142 Timothy J. Boring, Kurt D. Thelen, James E. Board, Jason L. De Bruin, Chad D. Lee, Seth L. Naeve, William J. Ross, Wade A. Kent and Landon L. Ries Phosphorus and Potassium Fertilizer Application Strategies in Corn–Soybean Rotations Reprinted from: Agronomy 2018, 8, 195, doi:10.3390/agronomy8090195 ...............159 Khin Thuzar Win, Aung Zaw Oo, Naoko Ohkama-Ohtsu and Tadashi Yokoyama Bacillus Pumilus Strain TUAT-1 and Nitrogen Application in Nursery Phase Promote Growth of Rice Plants under Field Conditions Reprinted from: Agronomy 2018, 8, 216, doi:10.3390/agronomy8100216 ...............171 v Lu Yang, Jinshun Bai, Jia Liu, Naohua Zeng and Weidong Cao Green Manuring Effect on Changes of Soil Nitrogen Fractions, Maize Growth, and Nutrient Uptake Reprinted from: Agronomy 2018, 8, 261, doi:10.3390/agronomy8110261 ...............183 Hirak Banerjee, Krishnendu Ray, Sudarshan Kumar Dutta, Kaushik Majumdar, Talatam Satyanarayana and Jagadish Timsina Optimizing Potassium Application for Hybrid Rice (Oryza sativa L.) in Coastal Saline Soils of West Bengal, India Reprinted from: Agronomy 2018, 8, 292, doi:10.3390/agronomy8120292 ...............196 Marta Aranguren, Ana Aizpurua, Ander Castell´on,Gerardo Besga and Nerea Villar Soil Properties for Predicting Soil Mineral Nitrogen Dynamics Throughout a Wheat Growing Cycle in Calcareous Soils Reprinted from: Agronomy 2018, 8, 303, doi:10.3390/agronomy8120303 ...............210 Jes us´ Santillano-C´azares, Fidel N u´ nez-Ram´ırez,˜ Cristina Ru´ız-Alvarado, Mar´ıa Elena Cardenas-Casta´ neda˜ and Iv´an Ortiz-Monasterio Assessment of Fertilizer Management Strategies Aiming to Increase Nitrogen Use Efficiency of Wheat Grown Under Conservation Agriculture Reprinted from: Agronomy 2018, 8, 304, doi:10.3390/agronomy8120304 ...............222 vi About the Special Issue Editor Jagadish Timsina (Prof. Dr.) is a globally respected agricultural scientist specializing in agronomy, plant and soil nutrient management, conservation agriculture, crop and systems modeling, farming systems, and agroecosystems sustainability. He has a wide range of research and development experiences in Australia and several countries in Asia. He started his career as a Lecturer at the Institute of Agriculture and Animal Sciences, Tribhuvan University, Nepal, where he worked for about 15 years. He then moved to Australia where he worked as a Senior Research Scientist with CSIRO Land and Water Division and as a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Melbourne, where he continues to be associated as an Honorary Principal Research Fellow. In addition, he has worked with some of the world’s most respected agriculture research institutes such as the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and International Maize and Wheat Research Centre (CIMMYT). He now holds an Adjunct Professor position with the Agriculture and Forestry University in Nepal. He is currently the Director of Agricultural Research and Development to the Institute for Studies and Development Worldwide (IFSD), Sydney and Senior Adviser to the International Institute for Sustainable Mountain Development (IISUMOD) in Rome, Italy. He has led several research projects on water, plant and soil nutrient management, crop and systems modeling, food security, and farming systems and sustainable agricultural intensification, to name a few. He has published over 140 scientific papers and sits on the editorial boards of Agricultural Systems, Global Journal of Agriculture and Allied Sciences, and EC Nutrition. He is an active academic contributing to higher and vocational education sectors in Australia, Bangladesh, and Nepal. vii Preface to ”Fertilizer Application on Crop Yield” Inorganic fertilizers consume at least one-third of the total energy used by agriculture globally. Increased fertilizer application can increase crop yields and improve global food security, and has the potential to eliminate hunger and poverty. The excessive application of fertilizer, however, can contribute to groundwater pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, eutrophication, deposition and disruptions to natural ecosystems, and soil acidification over time. In contrast, insufficient application can decrease crop yields. Both extremes have raised broader concerns regarding soil and environmental degradation, nutrient deficiencies, increased fertilizer costs, and decreased profits. To develop practical recommendations for farmers, yield responses to applied fertilizers from inorganic and organic sources, indigenous nutrient supply from soil, and nutrient use efficiency (NUE) require consideration. These factors form the basis of precision or field-specific nutrient management approaches, which could aid in the development of more precise and spatially appropriate fertilizer recommendations. Inadequate knowledge of these factors has constrained efforts to develop precision nutrient management recommendations that aim to rationalize input costs, increase yield and profits, and reduce environmental externalities. Over the years, advances have been made in understanding the crop yield response to fertilizers and NUE in varying farmers’ management practices. However, small farmers in many countries still think inorganic fertilizers are expensive inputs and degrade soils, and, thus, policymakers want to promote organic fertilizers instead of inorganic fertilizers. There is a lack of sufficient scientific understanding regarding the need and benefit of inorganic fertilizers to meet the nutrient demand of high-yielding crops. A balanced application of inorganic and organic fertilizers maybe be advocated to increase yields and profits, and reduce soil and environmental degradation. This Special Issue of the journal provided some evidence of the usefulness of integrated nutrient management (i.e., with inorganic and organic sources of nutrients)
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