On-farm Fertility Management through Target Yield Approach for Sustenance of Tribal Farmers

The demonstrations on on-farm fertility management through desired yield target were conducted with castor and maize crops at 15 farmers’ fields during rabi 2016-17 at Peddatanda and Sainapally tanda of Nagarkurnool District, Telangana to improve sustenance of tribal farmers and to verify the fertilizer prescription models & to analyze the economics of these models to enhance the productivity and profitability. The results revealed that the targeted yield prescription models ensured higher seed yield, response yard-stick and nutrient ratio to the applied fertilizers, and additional benefits from higher produce, a good benefit-cost ratio obtained over the farmers’ practice. The seed yield from the pre-fixed targets of 25 and 60 q ha-1 of castor and maize were achieved within ± 10 % yield deviation at almost all the locations, which ensure for further nourishment of tribal farmers. The targeted yield prescription models for fertilizer recommendations were more precise to achieve the targeted yield, additionally led to higher profits and soil health.