A Dynamic Decision-Making Tool for Calculating the Optimal Rates of N Application for 40 Annual Crops While Minimising the Residual Level of Mineral N at Harvest

Abstract

Adequate nitrogen (N) fertilisation is an important component of sustainable management in agricultural systems because it reduces the environmental impacts of agriculture. However, taking into account the varied sources of soil N remains a challenge, and farmers require robust decision-making tools to manage increasingly diverse growing conditions. To address these issues, we present the AzoFert ® decision support system for farmers and extension services. This tool is capable of providing N recommendations at the field scale for 40 main field crops. It is based on a full inorganic N balance sheet and integrates the dynamic modelling of N supply from soil and various organic sources. Because of the choice of formalisms and parameters and the structure and modularity of the computer design, the tool is easily adaptable to new crops and cropping systems. We illustrate the application of Azofert ® through a range of N fertilisation experiments conducted on cereals, sugar beet and vegetables in France.

Allometric approach to crop nutrition and implications for crop diagnosis and phenotyping. A review

“…Most tools for crop nutrition diagnosis and fertilizer decisions are based on soil or plant tests. For instance, the soil N supply can be estimated through the calculation of balances between net N mineralization, N leaching and volatilization, and soil N mineral content (Machet et al 2017). However, this "prognosis" approach suffers from a large uncertainty in estimates of crop N demand because of growth and yield variations with soil attributes, weather, and crop management.…”

A comprehensive dataset on nitrate, Nitrite and dissolved organic carbon leaching losses from a 4-year Lysimeter study

“…The crop rotation consists of maize ( Zea mays L.) and winter wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.), with a N catch crop (CC) of white mustard ( Sinapis alba ) sown at the beginning of September, 2 months after the wheat harvest. Rates of mineral N fertilizer applied to crops were calculated using the mineral N balance-sheet method recommended in France [1] ( Table 1 ). Poultry manure, pig slurry and the digestate of pig slurry were applied in early spring every year to the growing wheat and before the sowing of maize, while cattle manure and composted pig manure were applied every 2 years before the sowing of maize.…”

Critical Success Factors for the Adoption of Decision Tools in IPM

“…Suppression measures refers to the application of cultural practices (e.g., seed-bed sanitation, management of crop residue, soil tillage, application of chemical treatments) aimed at reducing the pest population during winter or in the inter-crop period, so that the pest development in the following season is delayed [46]. In this regard, DTs are developed to support strategic decisions to develop cropping plans, schedule planting and crop rotation schemes [47,48], assess the risks of crop diseases [43,49], simulate yield loss as a result of pest impacts [50], provide early warnings based on cultivar resistance [44], and support fertilization plans [51][52][53][54]. The information provided by DTs might also support the application of suppression measures, for instance, on whether to intervene based on the estimation of the pest population as influenced by environmental (e.g., temperature or rain) and agricultural (e.g., previous crop or soil type) drivers [55][56][57][58].…”