Vol.

1 Issue-3, November 2020

Nutrient Use Efficiency: An Overview

Gajanand*, Pradeep Kumar and Bhutekar Satish Deelip
Department of Agronomy,
Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University- 848125, Samastipur, Bihar
*Corresponding author: [email protected]
ARTICLE ID: 058

Introduction

Invariably, many cultivated soils of the world are scarce in one or more of the
essential nutrients required supporting vigorous plants. Estimates of overall efficiency of
applied fertilizer have been reported to be around or lesser than 50% for N, less than 10%
for P, and about 40% for K (Baligar et al., 2001). Plants that are capable in absorption and
utilization of nutrients prominently enhance the efficiency of applied fertilizers, decreasing
cost of inputs, and avoiding losses of nutrients to ecosystems. To increase fertilizer use
efficiency (FUE) and to reduce its negative influence on the atmosphere has been an
important point in the world for a long time. It can be particularly affected by fertilizer
management as well as by soil and irrigation Management. There is increased demand for
fertilizer nutrients to meet the global demand for food, However there are inadequate
fertilizer resources available and rising public concern related to nutrient use side effects.
This has led to calls for NUE to be improved, but not at the expense of decreased crop
productivity. Nutrient use efficiency (NUE) depends on the plant’s capacity to take up
nutrients efficiently from the soil, but also depends on inner transport, storage and
remobilization of nutrients.

What is NUE/FUE?

Nutrient use efficiency (NUE) may be defined as yield per unit fertilizer input or in
terms of recovery of applied fertilizer. Nutrient use efficiency (NUE) is a critically
important concept in the evaluation of crop production systems.
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Vol.1 Issue-3, November 2020

Common NUE and their applications (after Dobermann, 2007):

Term Calculation Typical use
Partial factor productivity PFP = Y/F As long term indicator of trends.
Agronomic efficiency* AE = (Y-Y0)/F It is use as short-term indicator of the impact
of applied nutrients on productivity.
Partial nutrient balance PNB = UH/F As long-term indicator of trends, mostly used
when combined with soil fertility information.
Apparent recovery RE = (U-U0)/F As an indicator of the potential nutrient loss
efficiency by difference** from the cropping system and to access the
efficiency of management practices.
Internal utilization IE = Y/U To evaluate genotypes in breeding programs;
efficiency values of 30-90 are common for N in cereals
and 55-65 considered optimum.
Physiological efficiency** PE = (Y-Y0)/ Research evaluating NUE among cultivars
(U-U0) and other cultural practices, values of 40-60
are common.
*Y = yield of harvested portion of crop with nutrient applied; Y0 = yield with not nutrient
applied; F = amount of nutrient applied; UH = nutrient content of harvested portion of the
crop; U= total nutrient uptake in aboveground crop biomass with nutrient applied; U0 =
nutrient uptake in aboveground crop biomass with no nutrient applied; Units are not shown in
the table since the expressions are ratios on a mass basis and are therefore unit less in their
standard form. P and K can either be expressed on an elemental basis (most common in
scientific literature) or on an oxide basis as P2O5 or K2O (most common within industry).
**Short-term omission plots often lead to an underestimation of the long-term AE, RE, or PE
due to residual effects of nutrient application.
How to increase FUE: -

The objective of nutrient use is to increase the overall performance of cropping

systems by supplying economically optimal nutrients to the crop. For increasing NUE
approaches defines below-

1) Scientific nutrient management:

Appropriate nutrient management in cropping systems should purpose to

supply suitable fertilizers based on the demand of the crops and apply in this method that
reduce loss and maximize the use efficiency.

a) Right Rate - Soil testing is most important technique available for determining the
nutrient supplying capacity of the soil, but to be useful for making appropriate fertilizer
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recommendations , good calibration data is also necessary (IPNI, 2012b).

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Vol.1 Issue-3, November 2020

b) Right Time - It is the interrelated to site specific nutrient management (SSNM).

Greater synchronization between crop demand and nutrient supply is necessary to improve
nutrient use efficiency, especially for N (Giller et al., 2004). Split applications of N during
the growing season, rather than a single, large application prior to planting, are known to be
effective in increasing N use efficiency.

c) Right Place - Fertilizer application method is influenced use efficiency. Mainly two
methods are used for fertilizer application, before and after planting. Determining of right
placement is very important for deciding the rate of application.

2) Integrated Nutrient Management (INM):

INM involves optimum use of indigenous nutrient components i.e. crop residues,
organic manure, biological N fixation as well as chemical fertilizer and their balancing
interactions to rises N and P recovery. The appropriate understanding and exploitation of
these positive interactions among the plant nutrient is keys for increasing returns to the
farmers in terms of yield as well as soil quality and NUE of applied N (Aulakh and Malhi,
2004).

3) Use of modified fertilizers:

a) Use of slow release fertilizers - A range of slow release fertilizers is now marketed
which have the potential to reduce various N losses and improve NUE (Giller et al., 2004).

b) Use of nitrification inhibitors - Addition of nitrification inhibitors can check

conversion of ammonium-N into nitrate-N and ensure higher concentration of ammoniacal
form of nitrogen in soil medium, to increase NUE and crop yield (Shivay et al., 2001).
Nitrogen stabilizers (e.g., nitrapyrin, DCD [dicyandiamide], NBPT [n-butyl- thiophosphoric
triamide]) inhibit nitrification or urease activity, there by slowing the conversion of the
fertilizer to nitrate.

4) Use of organic and green manures.

5) Use of conservation tillage for proper crop residue management.

6) Reducing losses of nutrients.

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References:

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Vol.1 Issue-3, November 2020

Aulakh and Malhi. 2004. Fertilizer N use efficiency as influenced by interactions with other
nutrients, In: Agriculture and the Nitrogen Cycle: Assessing the Impacts of Fertilizer Use
on Food Production and the Environment (Editors: A.R. Mosier, J.K. Syers and J.R.
Freney); 181-191. Island Press, Washington, USA.

Baligar, V.C., Fageria, N.K. and He, Z.L. 2001. NUTRIENT USE EFFICIENCY IN
PLANTS. Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis. 32(7&8), 921–950.

Giller, K. E., Chalk, P., Dobermann, A., Hammond, L., Heffer, P., Ladha, J. K., Nyamudeza,
P., Maene, L., Ssali, H., & Freney, J. (2004). Emerging Technologies to Increase the
Efficiency of Use of Fertilzer Nitrogen. In A. R. Mosier, J. K. Syers, & J. R. Freney
(Eds.), Agriculture and the Nitrogen Cycle: Assessing the Impacts of Fertilizer Use on
Food Production and the Environment :35-51. (Scope; No. 65).

Shivay, Y.S., Rajendra Prasad, Singh, S. & Sharma. 2001. Coating of prilled urea with neem
(Azadirachta indica) for efficient nitrogen use in lowland transplanted rice (Oryza sativa),
Indian Journal of Agronomy 46(3): 453-457.

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