Nutrient budgets: sustainability assessment of rainfed lowland rice-based systems in northeast Thailand

In northeast Thailand, the sustainability of rainfed lowland rice-based systems, the dominant land-use system (LUS) in the region, is a concern for the welfare of the population in this relatively poor region. Poor soil fertility and low inputs are seen as major causes of this lack of sustainability. In this context, the assessment of nutrient budgets is seen as a powerful tool for the assessment of critical components of the sustainability of this particular LUS. Biophysical, socioeconomic, and management-related data on the farming systems were collected for 30 farms in Ubon Ratchathani Province, northeast Thailand. A relational database system (RDBS) was developed to manage and analyze the data. The RDBS includes a calculation procedure for the semi-automatic generation of partial nutrient balances. Partial nutrient balances are good indicators for some critical components of sustainability, and important for decision support on soil fertility management when considered with the additional factors that are required for a full nutrient balance.For the rice-based systems of 30 farms, mean partial balances were 12 kg N ha⁻¹, 8 kg P ha⁻¹, and 7 kg K ha⁻¹ per year. Large variations in partial N, P, and K balances exist among different farms and, even more so, for different land utilization types (LUTs). The LUTs are distinct cropping system–management combinations that occur down to the subfield level. Many of the partial balances assessed were negative.Farmers manage nutrients for similar parcels of land in very different ways. This results in the observed large variation in partial nutrient balances, even for the same type of land use within the same farm. These results confirm the high inter-farm and intra-farm variability for partial balances of N, P, and K of several preliminary studies. Farmer interviews and field surveys revealed that different socioeconomic factors appear to be related with inter- and intra-farm variability in nutrient budgets. In addition, the socioeconomic component of the case study revealed that diversification of income sources, particularly off-farm employment, had a larger impact on household income than rice production. Furthermore, while many less well-off households had a greater reliance on rice production, many farms with high off-farm and non-rice farm income had a higher total production of rice.The nutrient balance approach, starting with partial nutrient balances, may become an important component of a dynamic and site-specific decision support tool (DST) for nutrient management, and a relational database of the form used in this study may become a key element.     

Managing crop residues, fertilizers and leaf litters to improve soil C, nutrient balances, and the grain yield of rice and wheat cropping systems in Thailand and Australia

This paper reports on the influence that residue and fertilizer management have on nutrient balances, soil organic matter (SOM) dynamics, and crop yields of a flooded rice system in northeast Thailand (1992–1997) and a wheat–forage legume rotation in eastern Australia (1992–1998). Both soils had been subject to at least 18 years of cultivation and had lost up to 90% of the original labile (C_L) and 85% of the total carbon (C_T).For the rainfed rice cropping systems of northeast Thailand, a system is described in which small applications of leaf litter from locally grown trees are applied annually to rice paddy soils prior to transplanting. Annual applications of 1500 kg ha⁻¹ of leaf litter from different locally grown shrubs for five seasons resulted in increases in rice grain yield in 1997 of between 20 and 26% above the no-leaf litter control. Nutrient balances, determined by the difference between the inputs (fertilizer and added leaf litters) and outputs (grain and straw), indicated net positive balances of up to 457 kg N ha⁻¹, and 60 kg P ha⁻¹, after five seasons of leaf litter applications. Sulfur and potassium balances resulted in net deficits of up to −13 kg S ha⁻¹ and −52 kg P ha⁻¹, where no leaf litter was applied and rice straw was removed following harvest. Soil carbon (C) concentrations increased significantly only where higher fertilizer rate and rice stubble retention were combined.The poor management of fertilizers and crop residues, and excessive cultivation has also resulted in large soil fertility losses in the grain growing areas of Eastern Australia. After five wheat and two legume/fallow crops, negative N balances of up to −303 kg ha⁻¹ were calculated for the treatments where wheat stubble was not retained and bare fallow leys were used. The balance of nutrients such as K, which are contained in larger proportions in stubble, were found to be up to −362 kg ha⁻¹ on the straw-removed treatments and up to +29 kg ha⁻¹ on the straw-retained treatments. Forage legume leys resulted in short term increases in C_L and the carbon management index (CMI).Sustainable farming systems require that crop yields are stable through the maintenance of soil fertility and the balance of nutrients in the system. Increases in soil C levels require sustained periods of balanced fertilization and residue retention.