Vol. 11, Special Issue 9 (2022)

Author(s):
Dr. Bijaylakhmi Goswami and Biju Pariyar

Abstract:
Soil fertility management is the key to optimising potential yield. Optimum use of soil nutrients, as well as the applied fertilizer, is ensured only by a critical soil test and crop-based site-specific application of fertilizer. Realizing the huge gap between Farmer’s Fertilizer Practices and Soil test-based fertilizer application with targeted yield, a series of tests were conducted to assess the relative economic advantages of Soil test-based fertilizer. To this effect, an experiment was conducted in 20 nos. of Gerbera greenhouses in Sikkim under organic fertilization. The study lasting a year was performed under two treatments viz. Targeted Yield with soil test and crop-based fertilizer application and Farmer’s Fertilizer Practice (FFP). The site and crop-specific nutrient status and requirements were determined instantly with Agrithink’s IoT and AI-based Smart Soil Health Management System (SOIL CARE). The results revealed significantly better performance in the targeted yield treatment. Despite higher investment in the cost of fertilizer in this treatment, the relative income was significantly higher than FFP, which was due to the higher yield of Gerbera under site-specific crop-based fertilizer application.