Impact of Various Agronomic Approaches on Nutrient Use Efficiency of Crops

Agricultural soils are invariably deficient or imbalanced in one or more essential nutrients. As a result, the yield levels of the plant are declining. This issue encourages the need to increase nutrient use efficiency by different fertilization strategies according to the crop requirements. Proper functioning of the soil significantly depends on soil organic matter (SOM), water-holding capacity, and nutrient contents, which results in higher growth and vigor with greater productivity in natural environments and agronomical practices. This will ensure the increase in food security for the growing population as well as maintain the ground and surface water level, thereby reducing the negative impacts on the ecosystem. This chapter is aimed at harnessing and maintaining the nutrients in the agricultural system through different agronomic approaches such as crop rotations, proper tillage operations, and residue management integrated with nutrient management. The above mentioned approaches fundamentally involves use of organic fertilizers, viz. application of farm yard manure, compost and vermicompost in the soil, foliar fortification with macro and micronutrients spraying of the crop at the juvenile stages of crop growth. It can help ensure the soil health sustainability, efficient nutrient uptake and increased photosynthetic rates of the crops resulting in increased soil organic carbon (SOC). Integrated Nutrient Management (INM) to enhance crop productivity is also the part of discussion in this chapter. It will focus on the increase in nutrient uptake and the growth of different crops in water stress conditions by bioinoculation of different rhizobacterial strains in soil.