nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium budgets in indian agriculture
TRANSCRIPT
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium budgets in Indianagriculture
H. Pathak Æ S. Mohanty Æ N. Jain Æ A. Bhatia
Received: 25 March 2009 / Accepted: 28 May 2009 / Published online: 25 June 2009
� Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2009
Abstract Nutrient budgeting is a useful tool in
determining present and future productivity of agri-
cultural land as well as undesirable effects of nutrient
mining and environmental pollution. Budgets of N, P,
and K were calculated for India for 2000–2001 taking
into consideration the inputs through inorganic fertil-
izer, animal manure, compost, green manure, legumi-
nous fixation, non-leguminous fixation, crop residues,
rain and irrigation water and outputs through crop
uptake and losses through leaching, volatilization and
denitrification. Inorganic fertilizer was the dominant
source contributing 64% of N and 78% of P inputs in
Indian agriculture, whereas K input through inorganic
fertilizer was 26%. Removals of N, P, and K by major
agricultural crops in the country were 7.7, 1.3 and
7.5 Mt, respectively. There were positive balances of
N (1.4 Mt) and P (1.0 Mt) and a negative balance of K
(3.3 Mt). It was projected that N, P, and K require-
ment by Indian agriculture would be 9.78, 1.57 and
9.52 Mt, respectively, to meet the food demand of
1.3 billion people by 2020. The study identified the
‘hotspots’ of excess nutrient loads as well as of
nutrient mining regions in India to improve our
ability to predict environmental degradation due to
imbalanced fertilizer use. However, there are some
uncertainties in India’s nutrient budget and more
research is required to reduce these uncertainties.
Keywords Ammonia volatilization �Denitrification � Fertilizer � Leaching �Manure � Nutrient balance � Nutrient uptake
Introduction
India is predominantly an agricultural country with
65% of its people depending on agriculture. Agricul-
ture in India, until the middle of the twentieth century,
relied mostly on organic manure. With the intro-
duction of modern high yielding varieties and
development of irrigation facilities during 1960s,
consumption of chemical fertilizer has increased
markedly (Fig. 1). In 1950–1951, consumption of N
fertilizer in the country was only 0.06 million ton
(Mt), which increased to 10.8 Mt in 2000–2001, an
increase of about 190-fold in the last 50 years (FAI
2000–2007). Consumption of P fertilizer has also
risen sharply with less than 0.01 Mt in 1950–1951 to
1.8 Mt in 2000–2001. However, use of K fertilizer has
been very low with almost nil in 1950–1951 to only
0.81 Mt in 2000–2001. Along with increase in the
consumption of fertilizer, agricultural production has
increased considerably (Fig. 1). In 1950–1951, India
produced only 50.82 Mt of food grains from an area of
97.32 Mha to feed a population of 361 million
H. Pathak (&) � N. Jain � A. Bhatia
Division of Environmental Sciences, Indian Agricultural
Research Institute, New Delhi 110012, India
e-mail: [email protected]
S. Mohanty
International Rice Research Institute, India Office,
New Delhi, India
123
Nutr Cycl Agroecosyst (2010) 86:287–299
DOI 10.1007/s10705-009-9292-5
(Fig. 2). In 2000–2001 food grain production
increased to 196.81 Mt from an area of 121.05 Mha
with a population of 1.03 billion. Annual per capita
food availability increased from 141 kg during 1950–
1951 to 208 kg during 1990–1991 but declined to
192 kg during 2000–2001 (Fig. 2). This is a serious
concern and more efforts need to be explored to plug
the demand-supply mismatch and increase the per
capita food availability.
Recent analysis of a large number of long-term soil
fertility experiments have shown that yields have
stagnated or declined for rice and wheat, the two major
crops of the country, raising concerns about the long-
term sustainability of intensively cultivated produc-
tion systems and food security of the region (Ladha
et al. 2003). Non-judicious use of nutrient in relation to
amount, timing, and balance has been identified as a
possible reason of such yield stagnation/decline
(Ladha et al. 2005). Most fertilizer management
practices in intensive agriculture do not consider
nutrient budget in relation to yield and there is lack of
notion that application of N, P, K and other nutrients is
highly unbalanced; resulting in stagnation or decline in
yield. Nutrient budget, which describes nutrient stocks
and flows as related to different land management
systems is a powerful tool in determining present and
future productivity of agricultural land, as well as
undesirable environmental effects such as nutrient
mining and pollution (Smaling and Fresco 1993). The
use of nutrient audits and nutrient budgets to assess the
changes in soil nutrient status and the prospects for
future food production is becoming increasingly
important in many agricultural systems (Sheldrick
et al. 2002). It has been commonly used as an indicator
to assess the change in fertility status of soil. Devel-
oping nutrient budgets is also important to raise
awareness among researchers, extension personnel,
and farmers about nutrient flows, rate of nutrient
depletion or accumulation; and to develop improved
nutrient management strategies. Although nutrient
budget calculations have been attempted for countries
in Europe, Africa, and Asia (Krishna Prasad et al.
2004; Krishna Prasad and Badarinath 2006; Pathak
et al. 2006a; Lesschen et al. 2007), most of the studies
in Asia considered limited components of N budget,
while P and K budgets were largely ignored. The
objectives of this paper were to calculate N, P, and K
budgets in Indian agriculture and identify the uncer-
tainties associated with these budgets.
Materials and methods
Study area
India is the seventh largest country in the world,
covering an area of about 328.7 million hectares, with
a population of nearly 1.2 billion. India occupies only
2.4% of the total geographical area but supports about
16.2% of the world’s human population. The main-
land of the country extends between latitudes 8�40 and
37�60N, longitudes 68�70 and 97�30E. India is divided
into 30 states, 1 national capital territory and 6 union
territories. With a net cultivated area of 141 Mha and
current cropping intensity of 135%, the total gross
cropped area in India is 190 Mha (FAI 2000–2007).
The country has a net irrigated area of 54.68 Mha and
0
3
6
9
12
1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000
Year
N, P
and
K (
Mt)
0
50
100
150
200
250
Food
gra
in (
Mt)
N
P
K
Food grain
Fig. 1 Fertilizer N, P, and K consumption and food grain
production in India since 1950
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000
Year
Popu
latio
n (m
illio
n)
0
50
100
150
200
250
Food
pro
duct
ion
(Mt)
&av
aila
bilit
y (k
g/ca
pita
)
Population
Food production
Food availability
Fig. 2 Population, food grain production, and food availabil-
ity in India over the years
288 Nutr Cycl Agroecosyst (2010) 86:287–299
123
a gross irrigated area of 75.14 Mha. Among the crops,
rice occupies the largest area (44.9 Mha) with a
production of 134.0 Mt followed by wheat with an
area of 27.4 Mha and a production of 75.6 Mt. The
dominant cropping systems are rice–wheat (10.0
Mha), rice–pulse (3.2 Mha), rice–rice (2.2 Mha),
and rice–oilseed (1.2 Mha) (Frolking et al. 2006).
The area under fruit and vegetables accounts for 8% of
total cropped area (FAI 2000–2007). Since much of
the statistical data was state- and union territory-
based, state and union territory were chosen as the
basic geographic unit. Inputs (mineral fertilizer,
organic manure, crop residues, biological N fixation,
irrigation, and rain), outputs (crop uptake and loss),
and budget of N, P, and K for each state were
calculated using the procedure described below. The
nutrient budget (Mg yr-1) in each state was divided
by the respective agricultural area (Mha) of the state
to calculate the nutrient budget per ha (kg ha-1). The
data were compiled in a regional scale using ARC-
VIEW Geographic Information Systems (GIS) frame-
work to depict the spatial distribution of N, P, and K
balances in the various states of the country.
Calculation of N, P, and K budgets
Annual budgets of N, P and K (Mg yr-1) for each
state were calculated using the following equations.
N budget ¼XðFertilizer N; animal manure N;
compost N; green manure N;
biologically fixed N; crop residue N;
rain N; and irrigation water N�X
N uptake and N lossð Þ
P budget ¼XðFertilizer P, animal manure P,
compost P, crop residue P, burned rice
straw P, rain P, and irrigation water P� P uptake
K budget ¼XðFertilizer K; animal manure K;
compost K; crop residue K;
burned rice straw K; rain K;
and irrigation water K�X
K uptake and K lossð Þ
Inputs of N
The following equation was used to calculate N input.
N input (Mg yr�1Þ ¼NINþNAMþNCMþNGMþNLG
þNNLþNCRþNRNþNIR
where, NIN, NAM, NCM, NGM, NLG, NNL, NCR, NRN
and NIR are additions of N through inorganic
fertilizer, animal manure, compost, green manure,
leguminous fixation, non-leguminous fixation, crop
residues, rain and irrigation water, respectively.
Amount of N applied through animal manure (NAM)
was calculated as follows.
NAM ¼X
T
ðNT � NexðTÞÞ ��½1� ðAMFL
þAMCL þ AMCNÞ��
where, T is the number of the defined livestock
category (cattle, buffalo, sheep, and goat), NT is the
number of animals in each category in each state,
Nex(T) is the annual average N excretion (Mg yr-1)
per head for each livestock category, and AMFL,
AMCL, and AMCN are the fractions of animal manure
that are burnt as fuel, used for construction, and lost
during collection, respectively. Sources of data for
different parameters used in the study are given in
Table 1. Contribution of animal urine towards N
addition was not included in the study because almost
all of urine is lost from the cattle-shed before and
during collection and negligible amount is recycled
into agricultural fields. Contribution of poultry and
ducks towards N addition in soil was also not
considered as the amounts are small, a large part is
not collected, most of these are used for fishery and a
negligible amount is added to agricultural fields in the
country.
Addition of N (Mg yr-1) through compost (NCM)
was calculated taking into account the production
(Mg yr-1) of rural and urban composts in different
states and average N contents (%) in urban and rural
composts. Addition of N (Mg yr-1) through green
manure crops (NGM) such as sesbania (Sesbania
aculeata) and sunhemp (Crotalaria juncea) was
calculated taking into account total harvested area
(Mha) under the these crops in different states (FAI
2000–2007) and considering that these crops fix on an
average 30 kg N ha-1 (Motsara et al. 1995).
Nutr Cycl Agroecosyst (2010) 86:287–299 289
123
Following the IPCC (2006) methodology, the
contribution of biologically fixed N (NLG) i.e., the
amount of N fixed by N-fixing crops was calculated
as
NLG ¼XðLGGY � LGGNÞ
where LGGY is grain yield (Mg ha-1) of leguminous
crops and LGGN is the N fraction in grain. Four
leguminous crops i.e., chick pea (Cicer arietinum),
pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan), groundnut (Arachis
hypogaea) and soybean (Glycine max) were taken
into account for the calculation. Data on yield of
N-fixing crops were acquired from FAI (2000–2007)
whereas N content of grain was collected from
Subrian et al. (2000).
Apart from symbiotic N fixation by legumes, non-
symbiotic/free-living N2 fixation by micro-organisms
in lowland rice and upland crops also fix considerable
amount of N in soil. We assumed that about
10 kg N ha-1 will be fixed by blue green algae in
lowland rice and 5 kg N ha-1 will be the contribution
of free living N fixers in upland crops (Regmi et al.
2002). Contribution of non-leguminous N fixation
(NNL) was calculated as
NNLðMg N yr�1Þ ¼ Lowland rice area ðMhaÞ � 10
þ ½Agricultural area ðMhaÞ� lowland rice area ðMhaÞ� � 5:
Amount of N added to soil through incorporation
of crop residue (NCR) was calculated using the
following equation.
NCRðMg N yr�1Þ ¼X
0:05 � SY � SNð Þ
where, SY and SN are amount of straw (Mt) and its N
content in non-leguminous crops, respectively and 0.05
is the fraction of straw incorporated to the soil. All the
major crops i.e., rice, wheat, maize (Zea mays),
sorghum (Sorghum bicolor), barley (Hordeum vulgare),
pearl millet (Pennisetum americanum), ragi (Eleu-
sine coracana), small millets (Pancium miliaceum),
sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum), cotton (Gossypium
Table 1 Basic data used in the study and their sources
Parameter Source
Consumption of N, P and K fertilizer FAI (2000–2007)
Agricultural area in each state FAI (2000–2007)
Grain yield of different crops FAI (2000–2007)
Nitrogen contents in straw of various crops Subrian et al. (2000)
Removal of N, P and K by various crops FAI (2000–2007), Witt et al. (1999), Pathak et al. (2003)
Area under rice in different states Pathak et al. (2005)
Population of livestock DES (1998)
Regional distribution of livestock population Planning Commission, India (1998)
Population of male and female amongst cattle and buffalo Statistical abstract of Haryana (1999)
Dung produced by different categories of livestock Jain and Kumar (1995)
Dry matter content in the fresh dung Bhatia et al. (2004)
N, P, and K contents in bovine, sheep and goat dung Subrian et al. (2000)
Animal dung that is burnt for fuel and used for construction Jain and Kumar (1995)
Loss of dung during collection TERI (2001)
Annual average rainfall in different states FAI (2000–2007)
Irrigation water used in different states FAI (2000–2007)
N, P and K contents in rain and irrigation water Regmi et al. (2002)
Production of potato, vegetables and fruits Paroda and Kumar (2000)
Loss of N through leaching, volatilization and denitrification Parashar et al. (1998), Banerjee et al. (2002)
Loss of K through leaching Regmi et al. (2002)
Burning of rice straw Pathak et al. (2006b)
N, P and K content in compost FAI (2000–2007)
Area under green manure crop FAI (2000–2007)
290 Nutr Cycl Agroecosyst (2010) 86:287–299
123
herbaceum), jute (Corchorus sp.) grown in India were
included in this calculation. In India crop residues are
used for fuel, feed and other domestic purposes. In some
places, Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, for
example, rice straw is burnt. Therefore, very little of
crop residues are incorporated in the field. Straw yields
(SY in Mt) of various crops were calculated from grain
yield (GY in Mt) and harvest index (HI) using the
following formula.
SY ¼ GY=HIð Þ � GY
Inputs of P and K
The following equations were used to calculate the
inputs of P and K.
P input ðMg P yr�1Þ ¼ PIN þ PAM þ PCM þ PCR
þ PSB þ PRN þ PIR
where PIN, PAM, PCM, PCR, PSB PRN and PIR are P
additions (Mg P yr-1) through inorganic fertilizer,
animal manure, compost, and crop residue, burning
of rice straw, rain and irrigation, respectively.
K input ðMg K yr�1Þ ¼ KIN þ KAM þ KCM þ KCR
þ KSB þ KRN þ KIR
where, KIN, KAM, KCM, KCR, KSB, KRN and KIR are
additions of K (Mg K yr-1) through inorganic fertil-
izer, animal manure, compost, crop residue, rice
straw burning, rain and irrigation, respectively.
Data on application of P and K fertilizers in Indian
agriculture was collected from FAI (2000–2007).
Inputs of P and K through manure, compost and crop
residues were calculated multiplying P and K
contents with manure and crop residues, respectively,
added to soil using similar methodology as discussed
in case of N input. In the states of Punjab, Haryana
and Uttar Pradesh (western part) large amount
(60–80%) of rice straw is burned in field (Pathak
et al. 2006b). Almost entire amounts of N, 25% of P,
and 20% of K present in straw are lost due to burning
and remaining 75% of P and 80% of K in rice straw is
added to soil (Dobermann and Fairhurst 2000). In this
analysis we considered that 70% of rice straw
produced in Punjab and Haryana and 25% of rice
straw produced in Uttar Pradesh is burned in field
(Pathak et al. 2006b). Rain and irrigation water
assumed to contain 0.1 and 0.05 mg L-1 P and 0.7
and 2.0 mg L-1 K, respectively (Regmi et al. 2002).
Output of N, P, and K
Removal of nutrients by crop was calculated based on
N, P, and K uptake (Mg yr-1) by all above ground
biomass (grain and straw) to produce one Mg of
economic (grain) yield.
Extents of N, P, and K loss depend on several of
soil, plant and climatic factors (Ladha et al. 2005).
Loss of N through leaching from Indian soils is 10–
20 kg N ha-1 whereas loss through NH3 volatiliza-
tion is 10–20 and denitrification is 15–30 kg N ha-1
in rice-wheat system (Aulakh and Bijay-Singh 1997;
Parashar et al. 1998; Banerjee et al. 2002; Pathak
et al. 2006a). In the present calculation, loss through
leaching, volatilization, and denitrification was taken
as 50% of N input. We assumed that there would be
no loss of P through leaching or otherwise from the
soil system. Leaching of K has been taken as 15% of
the K input (Regmi et al. 2002).
The N, P and K budgets have been presented for
every state. However, for convenience of presenting
the data, the small states, which include Andaman
and Nicobar Islands, Arunachal Pradesh, Chandigarh,
Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Delhi, Goa, Daman and
Diu, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and
Sikkim have been clubbed together.
Results and discussion
N budget
Inputs of N from different sources, its removal by
crop uptake and balance in agricultural soils of
different states in India for the agricultural year of
2000–2001 have been presented in Table 2. During
2000–2001, 10.8 Mt of N fertilizer was used in
Indian agriculture, whereas animal manure, biolog-
ical N fixation (BNF), atmospheric deposition plus
irrigation water, and crop residues contributed 1.4,
2.4, 2.3 and 0.1 Mt, respectively. Total N input was
17.0 Mt and fertilizer was the dominant source
contributing 64% of it. There are significant differ-
ences in the extent of N use in various states.
Manure N input is highest in Karnataka followed by
Punjab and West Bengal (Table 2). The shares of
manure N input to total N input for these states are
17, 15, and 18%, respectively. Uttar Pradesh, with
the highest cattle population of 108 million adds
Nutr Cycl Agroecosyst (2010) 86:287–299 291
123
only 2% of total N input through manure, which is
much less in comparison to above three states. With
maximum area of 7.6 million ha under leguminous
crops (FAI 2000–2007), Madhya Pradesh tops in
biological fixation of N.
Removal of N by crop uptake was 7.7 Mt
(Table 2). The N uptake by rice was highest followed
by wheat and oilseed crops (ground nut, soybean,
mustard, castor and linseed) (Fig. 3). Losses of N
included leaching (2.3 Mt), ammonia volatilization
(2.3 Mt) and denitrification (3.1 Mt). Thus crop
removal and losses of N accounted for 15.4 Mt,
resulting in an accumulation of 1.4 Mt N in soil
system (Table 2; Fig. 4). Krishna Prasad et al.
(2004), Krishna Prasad and Badarinath (2006) and
Murugan and Dadhwal (2007) also estimated net
accumulation of N in soil (positive N balance)
ranging from 1.9 to 14.4 Mt. The estimates, however,
differed from that of Fertilizer Association of India
(FAI 2000–2007), which estimated a negative bal-
ance of N. This is because addition of N through
irrigation, rain and crop residues was not considered
in the study of FAI. The current study also differed
from that of Krishna Prasad and Badarinath (2006)
which showed that about 35.4 Mt N was input from
different sources, with output from harvested crops of
about 21.2 Mt N. In their study N balance for
agricultural lands in India showed a surplus of about
14.4 Mt. Though the N balance was negative in some
states, all the agro-ecological regions of the country
showed surplus N loads ranging from 19 to
110 kg N ha-1 yr-1.
Table 2 Input, output, and balance of N in different states of India in 2000–2001
State Input Output Balance
Fertilizer Manurea Fixationb Depositionc Crop removal Loss
Andhra Pradesh 1,314.4 165.8 210.7 144.8 518.6 869.1 447.8
Assam 73.6 4.7 38.7 65.3 110.5 72.0 -0.1
Bihar 709.3 37.8 102.4 156.5 367.9 457.7 180.5
Gujarat 499.0 36.4 92.0 128.9 335.9 349.6 70.8
Haryana 714.3 38.0 59.5 89.0 403.4 432.0 65.4
Himachal Pradesh 24.4 58.0 5.2 17.0 33.3 49.8 21.5
Jammu & Kashmir 45.8 5.5 7.0 4.0 31.6 27.6 3.0
Karnataka 732.0 219.2 158.6 203.5 437.6 615.1 260.6
Kerala 73.8 14.2 7.5 38.3 19.4 63.4 51.0
Madhya Pradesh 520.6 80.8 516.6 241.9 1164.4 579.5 -383.9
Maharashtra 965.9 67.5 282.3 214.9 794.4 687.0 49.2
Orissa 207.4 71.4 87.2 159.8 139.6 226.9 159.2
Punjab 1,018.5 212.1 58.9 112.6 632.3 672.6 97.2
Rajasthan 495.2 100.2 192.4 73.0 500.5 386.4 -26.1
Tamil Nadu 547.2 45.6 166.3 57.4 400.9 380.3 35.3
Tripura 6.9 0.5 4.1 7.4 11.4 7.5 0.1
Uttar Pradesh 2,282.0 69.0 259.0 400.2 1,239.6 1,416.7 354.0
West Bengal 561.9 179.9 93.9 171.5 524.7 457.9 24.7
Othersd 31.0 6.6 14.7 24.5 41.1 31.9 3.8
All India 10,822.9 1,413.4 2,357.0 2,310.7 7,707.3 7,782.9 1,413.9
The values are in ‘000 Mg year-1
a Manure = animal manure, green manure, compost and crop residuesb Fixation = N fixation by leguminous crops, blue green algae in rice and free living fixation in crops other than ricec Deposition = N addition through irrigation and rainfalld Include Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Arunachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Delhi, Goa, Daman and Diu,
Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Sikkim
292 Nutr Cycl Agroecosyst (2010) 86:287–299
123
There is wide range of variation in N balance
among the various states of the country. While
Madhya Pradesh showed negative balances of 384
thousand Mg, Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh had
positive N balances of 354 and 448 thousand Mg,
respectively. High N balance in both these states is
due to excess application of fertilizer N (rates of
fertilizer N application in Uttar Pradesh and Andhra
Pradesh are 93 and 106 kg ha-1, respectively) in
comparison to the removal by crop uptake. Krishna
Prasad et al. (2004) also estimated a positive N
balance of 2.50 Mt for Uttar Pradesh. Negative or
very low positive N balance in the north eastern states
and Andaman and Nicobar Islands (-1.5–7.6 thou-
sand Mg) is because of low fertilizer N input in these
states. Fertilizer N consumption in these regions
ranges from 0.9 kg ha-1 in Nagaland to 17.0 kg ha-1
in Andaman and Nicobar Islands. With food grain
productivity ranging from 1.2 to 2.6 Mg ha-1, these
regions remain totally unaffected by the Green
Revolution. These areas provide enough untapped
potential that need to be harnessed through suitable
production technology and policy interventions.
Greater proportion of N input through organic
manure, and biological N fixation again points to
the suitability of these regions for organic agriculture.
All the states except five states in the north eastern
regions, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan; had positive
balance of N (Fig. 5). The N balance per unit of
area of land was highest in Andhra Pradesh
(40 kg N ha-1 yr-1). Recently Panda et al. (2007)
observed positive balance of N in the long-term
experiments in rice-rice systems in the treatments
with N and P application. This excess reactive N, if
poorly managed, can escape through volatilization,
denitrification, and leaching from soil-plant systems
to water bodies and the atmosphere, creating pollu-
tion problems (Ladha et al. 2005). The states where a
substantial negative balance of N is estimated, efforts
should be made to increase the N consumption and
improve N management so as to stop the N mining
from soil. Thus, managing N inputs to achieve a
balance between profitable crop production and
environmentally tolerable levels of NO3 in water
supplies should be of prime concern (Krishna Prasad
et al. 2004). The behavior of N in the soil system is
complex. An understanding of these basic processes
is essential for more efficient N management pro-
grams. One of the major challenges is to understand
the timing and amount of N supplied from mineral-
ization, while adjusting application rates of additional
inorganic or organic N fertilizer to ensure that plant N
demand is met. If this balance can be maintained,
then optimal crop yields can be reached with minimal
fertilizer wastage, financial benefits and a reduction
in environmental losses.
P budget
Inorganic fertilizer was the dominant source contrib-
uting 78% of total P (Table 3). Addition of P through
0
500
1000
1500
2000
Ric
e
Whe
at
Mai
ze
Mill
ets
Puls
es
Suge
rcan
e
Fibr
e cr
ops
Oil
seed
N, P
and
K r
emov
al (
000
Mg) N
P
K
Fig. 3 Uptake of N, P, and K by different crops in India.
(Millets include sorghum, ragi, barley and small millets; pulses
include pigeon pea and chick pea; fibre crops include jute and
cotton; oilseed includes soybean, groundnut, mustard and
castor)
-20
-15
-10
-5
0
5
10
15
20
N in
puts
N o
utpu
t
N b
alan
ce
P in
puts
P ou
tput
P ba
lanc
e
K in
puts
K o
utpu
t
K b
alan
ce
N, P
and
K (
Mt)
BalanceLosscrop removalDepositionFixationManureFertilizer
Fig. 4 Input, output, and balance of N, P, and K in Indian
agriculture during 2000–2001
Nutr Cycl Agroecosyst (2010) 86:287–299 293
123
manure and deposition is small in most of the states.
Uptake of P by different crops in the country showed
that uptake is highest by rice followed by millets and
oilseed crops (Fig. 3). Annual removal of P through
crop uptake was 1.27 Mt and there was an overall
positive balance of 1.02 Mt P in agricultural soils of
India (Table 3; Fig. 4). Panda et al. (2007) observed
positive balance of P in the long-term experiments in
rice-rice systems in the treatments with N and P
application. The states in the north eastern states
(Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram,
Nagaland and Sikkim), other small states and Mad-
hya Pradesh showed negative P balance. Low fertil-
izer P application (3.7 kg P ha-1) along with high P
removal by crops resulted in a negative balance of
0.049 Mt P in Madhya Pradesh. Balance of P per unit
of area of land has been highest in Himachal Pradesh
and Punjab (Fig. 5). North eastern states and Madhya
Pradesh showed negative P balance ranging from 1 to
3 kg P ha-1 yr-1.
K budget
Unlike N and P major input of K came from irrigation
water and rain (1.99 Mt) followed by manure
(1.63 Mt) (Table 4). Fertilizer K (1.30 Mt) contrib-
uted 26% to total K input in India. Potassium
consumption in India in year 2000 was about one-
seventh of the country’s N consumption. In the entire
history of fertilizer use in India, K has been
NitrogenPhosphorus
Potassium
Legend N P K
ahgk( -1 yr-1)
04--08-0-5-0-02-
02--04-5-001-0
0-02-01-502-01
06-002-0108-02
Fig. 5 Balance of N, P, and K per unit cultivable area in different states of India in 2000–2001
294 Nutr Cycl Agroecosyst (2010) 86:287–299
123
approximately 10% of total NPK usage (Tiwari 2003).
Uptake by different crops in the country showed that K
uptake was highest by rice followed by wheat, millets
and fiber crops (cotton and jute) (Fig. 3). An overall
negative balance of 3.29 Mt K was estimated for the
country (Table 4; Fig. 4). With exception of Karna-
taka, Orissa and Kerala which showed positive K
balance, all other states showed negative balance of K.
Uttar Pradesh, where removal of K due to crop
production is highest (1.18 Mt), added only 0.53 Mt K
through different sources, resulting in a negative
balance of K, as high as 0.72 Mt. All major states
have an N: K (generally used to measure degree of
imbalance of N with respect to K) wider than 4:1,
which is accepted as balanced nutrient use ratio in
India (FAI 2000–2007). For Haryana this value is
about 80:1 and for Punjab it is 40:1. In the northern
zone of India with a N:P:K application ratio of
21.7:6.5:1 (greater than other three zones) presented
a gleam picture of widespread unbalanced plant
nutrient application throughout the intensively culti-
vated, irrigated Indo-Gangetic plains, which contrib-
utes a large share of the total food grain production in
India. Balance of K per unit area has been highest in
Himachal Pradesh (Fig. 5). Highest negative K bal-
ance was estimated for Haryana (76 kg ha-1 yr-1)
followed by Uttar Pradesh (41 kg ha-1 yr-1). Panda
et al. (2007) observed negative balance of K in the
long-term experiments in rice-rice systems in Orissa,
Andhra Pradesh, Uttarakhand and West Bengal even
in the treatments with 35–50 kg ha-1 K application.
This suggested the need of adequate supply of K to
crops for obtaining sustainable high yields.
Projected N, P, and K budget in 2020
Population of India is projected to rise to 1.3 billion
by 2020; the demand for food grain will also increase
(Table 5). At the same time the rapid economic
growth in post-liberalization period (1990–1991) and
increasing per capita income (World Bank 2003),
pattern of diet is also expected to change. Besides
this, although India is the second largest producer of
food grains in world, the per capita food availability
of about 200 kg is much below the world average of
309 kg and accounts for one-fourth of the world’s
Table 3 Input, output, and
balance of P in different
states of India in 2000–2001
The values are in
‘000 Mg yr-1
a Manure = animal
manure, compost and crop
residuesb Deposition = P addition
through irrigation, rainfall
and straw burntc Include Andaman and
Nicobar Islands, Arunachal
Pradesh, Chandigarh, Dadra
and Nagar Haveli, Delhi,
Goa, Daman and Diu,
Manipur, Meghalaya,
Mizoram, Nagaland and
Sikkim
State Input Crop removal Balance
Fertilizer Manurea Depositionb
Andhra Pradesh 263.3 38.4 4.6 97.0 209.2
Assam 15.9 2.9 3.5 20.4 1.9
Bihar 92.4 17.0 4.8 64.9 49.4
Gujarat 85.4 7.0 4.2 68.2 28.4
Haryana 90.1 8.8 4.7 71.9 31.7
Himachal Pradesh 2.9 16.7 0.4 6.5 13.4
Jammu and Kashmir 7.8 2.1 0.3 6.1 4.1
Karnataka 167.5 58.4 8.8 77.0 157.7
Kerala 16.4 2.0 3.1 3.4 18.1
Madhya Pradesh 111.6 19.7 11.0 191.1 -48.9
Maharashtra 195.7 12.1 8.3 144.3 71.9
Orissa 31.1 24.0 4.8 24.7 35.2
Punjab 123.1 67.1 12.6 105.8 97.0
Rajasthan 71.7 26.7 3.9 92.2 10.2
Tamil Nadu 90.8 9.0 2.6 65.6 36.8
Tripura 0.8 0.3 0.3 2.0 -0.7
Uttar Pradesh 299.2 21.4 16.0 124.6 212.0
West Bengal 129.7 61.6 5.7 102.1 94.9
Othersc 1.7 1.9 1.4 7.6 -2.6
All India 1,797.0 397.2 101.2 1,275.6 1,019.8
Nutr Cycl Agroecosyst (2010) 86:287–299 295
123
malnourished people. Though there is decreasing
trend in the per capita cereal consumption with
increasing income in urban and rural areas of India,
the demand for rice and wheat will increase to
168.6 Mt and 82.3 Mt, respectively in the year 2020
(Table 5). Change in dietary pattern will increase the
consumption of vegetables, pulses, oilseeds and
animal products. Paroda and Kumar (2000) estimated
projected demands of 13.3 Mt of pulse (chick pea and
pigeon Pea), 9.0 Mt of ground nut and 135.6 Mt of
vegetables in the 2020 (Table 5). Similarly the
demand for sugarcane is expected to rise to
362.3 Mt. It is assumed that all the food will be
produced in the country i.e., food sovereignty at the
country level will be maintained and food import is
not taken as an option. There is considerable scope
for increasing the domestic production by harnessing
the existing untapped potential. Average yields of
several major crops in India have explicit room to
improve as compared to the potential yields of these
crops on farmers’ fields with improved practices
(Pathak et al. 2003; Joshi et al. 2009). Clinching
evidence of large gaps between achievable yield with
existing knowledge and the actual yield realized by
the farmers’ with the existing practices followed by
the farmers is discernible from the frontline demon-
strations of various departments. This clearly rein-
forces the point that crop production can be
substantially raised through the effective dissemina-
tion and adoption of technology. However, there are
technological as well as socio-economic constraints,
which are responsible for these gaps. Studying and
ameliorating them should receive high priority by the
Govt. of India.
Table 4 Input, output, and balance of K in different states of India in 2000–2001
States Input Output Balance
Fertilizer Manurea Depositionb Crop removal Loss
Andhra Pradesh 167.6 158.1 107.2 514.7 64.9 -146.7
Assam 25.6 16.0 59.6 116.1 15.2 -30.1
Bihar 54.8 80.0 115.1 355.1 37.5 -142.7
Gujarat 47.4 32.2 96.5 369.4 26.4 -219.7
Haryana 8.1 38.2 90.9 390.9 15.4 -269.0
Himachal Pradesh 3.8 62.5 11.7 33.0 11.7 33.3
Jammu and Kashmir 1.0 11.4 4.6 31.4 2.6 -16.9
Karnataka 194.1 214.0 168.7 442.3 86.5 48.0
Kerala 51.5 8.9 42.8 19.3 15.5 68.4
Madhya Pradesh 43.2 86.2 205.2 1,013.2 50.2 -728.8
Maharashtra 194.2 56.9 171.1 817.9 63.3 -459.0
Orissa 33.8 95.3 116.6 135.9 36.9 73.0
Punjab 18.6 254.1 187.7 556.3 51.5 -147.4
Rajasthan 4.5 112.3 66.5 504.3 27.5 -348.5
Tamil Nadu 173.2 45.2 48.8 369.6 40.1 -142.4
Tripura 0.5 1.6 5.8 11.2 1.2 -4.4
Uttar Pradesh 86.5 110.9 337.7 1,180.4 72.6 -717.8
West Bengal 188.5 236.1 129.6 602.0 83.1 -131.0
Othersc 1.2 8.4 22.8 41.1 4.9 -13.6
All India 1,298.1 1,628.3 1,989.1 7,504.0 706.8 -3,295.3
The values are in ‘000 Mg yr-1
a Manure = animal manure, compost and crop residuesb Deposition = K addition through irrigation, rainfall and straw burntc Include Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Arunachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Delhi, Goa, Daman and Diu,
Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Sikkim
296 Nutr Cycl Agroecosyst (2010) 86:287–299
123
As a result of increased crop productivity, N, P
and K requirement by crops will increase to
9.78 Mt, 1.57 Mt and 9.52 Mt, respectively. This
increased N, P and K requirement will change the
nutrient budget towards negative unless N, P and K
consumption is increased and nutrient use efficiency
is improved. Studies have shown that there is
significant potential to increase fertilizer use effi-
ciency (Ladha et al. 2005). For example, use of an
integrated crop management strategy comprising
optimal soil, water, and crop management could
improve fertilizer use efficiency. To make integrated
nutrient management successful manure manage-
ment and marketing should be given priority.
Manure market in India has remained unorganised
and localized and manure price has been signif-
icantly higher than the chemical fertilizer in terms
of nutrients in contrast to the organised and
state-supported fertilizer market. There is a need to
promote more dynamic manure market.
Uncertainties in the budget estimates
For most marketable crops, statistics are available on
area and yield (e.g. from Ministry of Agriculture and
Cooperation, Govt. of India). The uncertainty in these
statistics, however, could arise from errors during
sampling and data acquisition. However, accurate
statistics are lacking for non-marketed feed and
fodder crops.
The country-specific estimates of NH3 emission,
leaching and denitrification are not available. Quan-
titative estimation of losses from agricultural soil is
often characterized by large biases because of high
degree of temporal and spatial variability. Influence
of many factors, such as, wind speed, rainfall and pH
of flood water on N loss could not be quantified. The
other factors causing uncertainty in N loss estimate
include techniques of fertilizer application, soil
physical situation and meteorological conditions.
Uncertainty in quantification of nutrient applied
through manure in Indian agriculture is associated
with the data on dung produced by different catego-
ries of livestock, conversion factors for N content,
manure management, technique of manure applica-
tion in soil and loss of N during collection and
storage. In addition estimate on the contribution of
animal urine towards N addition is uncertain because
a large part of it is lost from the cattle-shed before
and during collection.
Irrigation water also contributes a sizable amount
of nutrient to agricultural soil in India as 40% of
gross cultivated area of the country is irrigated. Data
on nutrient content in irrigation water is scarce.
Atmospheric deposition is an important vector for
transferring anthropogenic N to terrestrial systems. It
occurs in the form of wet N deposition through
rainwater as well as dry deposition in association with
small solid particles such as dust that are in air and
reactive N gases that interact with vegetation, soils,
and water. Krishna Prasad et al. (2004) reported total
N deposition from atmosphere for year 2000–2001 to
be 4.20 Tg N accounting for about 12% of the total
input to agricultural land. On the basis of analysis of
rainwater samples and water extracts of aerosols for
NH4 and NO3, Rastogi and Sarin (2006) reported
total atmospheric deposition (including wet and dry
deposition) of 10 kg ha-1 yr-1 during the year 2001.
The concentration of atmospheric inorganic-N is
characterized by high temporal and spatial variability
Table 5 Demand for agricultural commodities and nutrient
requirement in India in 2020
Crop Productiona Nutrient requirement
N P K
Rice 168.6 2.48 0.44 2.44
Wheat 82.3 1.91 0.29 1.43
Sorghum 13.9 0.31 0.08 0.39
Pearl millet 5.6 0.24 0.06 0.43
Maize 11.5 0.30 0.07 0.34
Ragi 2.4 0.07 0.01 0.08
Small millets 0.6 0.02 0.00 0.02
Barley 1.5 0.03 0.00 0.03
Chick pea 8.6 0.40 0.03 0.36
Pigeon pea 4.7 0.30 0.04 0.17
Ground nut 9.0 0.52 0.08 0.22
Soybean 11.5 0.77 0.09 0.42
Cotton 11.6 0.52 0.14 0.72
Jute 9.4 0.22 0.05 0.33
Potato 27.8 0.13 0.01 0.14
Vegetable 135.6 0.50 0.10 0.54
Fruits 77.0 0.46 0.05 0.86
Sugarcane 362.3 0.62 0.03 0.60
Total 9.78 1.57 9.52
The values are in (Mt)a Adopted from Paroda and Kumar (2000)
Nutr Cycl Agroecosyst (2010) 86:287–299 297
123
and the uncertainty of the estimated depositions can
be very high.
Conclusions
The current study on N, P, and K budget at the state
level helps identifying the ‘hotspots’ of excess
nutrient loads as well as soil nutrient mining that
threatens the sustainability of Indian agriculture. This
will provide useful information for reorienting fertil-
izer policies for different states. This study can
further be down-scaled to specific regions and to
specific crops for the direct benefit of the farmers. It
would improve our ability to predict nutrient export
to water bodies and help identifying areas that may be
sensitive to pollution. Since the methods used to
estimate nutrient balance is based on many assump-
tions, there are chances of uncertainties associated
with the result. Direct measurements of various
components of nutrient budget and use of mechanistic
models for estimation of crop uptake and losses of
nutrients in different crops and cropping systems
would improve the estimates. Research on the ways
to increase the efficiency of applied fertilizer nutrient
such as use of nitrification inhibitor and slow release
fertilizer for N, placement of N and P, conjunctive
use of organic manure and use of better agronomic
practices needs to be intensified.
Acknowledgments The authors thank Dr. J. K. Ladha,
International Rice Research Institute, India Office, New
Delhi; and Dr. P. K. Aggarwal and Dr. R. Prasad, Indian
Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi for their comments
and suggestions on the manuscript.
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