Nano phosphorus feasibility in sandy loam soils for maize-wheat system of western IGP

Abstract

The phosphorus is the most expensive nutrient
in crop production exhibiting the lowest use efficiency
amongst the major nutrients. In response to the growing
concern about potential negative impact of large-scale
chemical fertilizer applications on soil health, ecosystem,
food chain, and crop production economics, nano
fertilization have gained importance in the recent past.
Nano-DAP (diammonium phosphate) was evaluated in
maize-wheat cropping system for two at Ludhiana, Punjab,
India. The results showed that seed dressing with nano
DAP @ 5 ml/kg seed + 75% recommended dose of N
and P through conventional DAP + nano-DAP foliar spray
@ 4 ml/l water resulted in at par grain yield with 100%
N&P application in both maize and wheat. However,
replacing 25% of the recommended dose of fertilizer
with nano-DAP resulted in slightly higher cost of
cultivation (Rs. 550/ha with unsubsidized DAP and Rs.
2250/ha with subsidized DAP) but it gave on par net
profit, and soil N and P availability. These findings suggest
that nano-DAP could be a feasible option to partially
substitute the nitrogen and phosphorus based conventional
fertilizers in maize-wheat system.