Perspectives of soil fertility management with a focus on fertilizer use for crop productivity

Abstract

Agricultural development strategy for India in the 21st century must be through increasing productivity of the land under cultivation, with reduced costs of production and higher use efficiency of inputs with no harm to the environmental quality. The prime requisite is the promotion of health of the soil-plant-environment system to be free from economic exploitation under overuse and abuse of the inputs as if with impunity. To this end, a new strategy of promoting eco-technologies, a blend of traditional practice and modern advances (as agro-ecosystems) replaces existing methods to eliminate its grave consequences. This is the agro-ecosystem management, a prudent design for economic viability of the farmer and ecological sustainability of crop yields, that is elaborated and presented here.