Nutrient Expert for Hybrid Maize

A key challenge faced by the local extension agencies remains the complex nature of factors influencing nutrient requirements. The Nutrient Expert for Hybrid Maize is a new, computer-based decision support tool developed to assist local experts to quickly formulate fertilizer guidelines for tropical hybrid maize based on the principles of site-specific nutrient management (SSNM). It facilitates the development of recommendation in the form of a Quick Guide for each region enabling local experts to run multiple scenarios to identify the most common characteristics or factors affecting fertilizer rates in the region. Originally in English, the Nutrient Expert for Hybrid Maize is also now available in Indonesian and Vietnamese languages.

The Nutrient Expert for Hybrid Maize will help a farmer increase his yield and profit by suggesting a meaningful yield goal for his location and by providing a fertilizer management strategy required to attain the yield goal. This software only requires information that can be easily provided by a farmer or local expert. This set of information include:
• Current yield and nutrient management practice
• Farmer’s current planting density
• Characteristics of the growing environment or estimate of the attainable yield (if known)
• Soil fertility indicators (e.g. soil texture and color, historical use of organic inputs) or estimates of yield responses to fertilizer N, P, and K (if known)
• Crop residue management, use of organic inputs, and nutrient carryover from previous crop are used to adjust fertilizer P and K requirements as merited.

After answering a set of simple questions, the user will get guidelines on fertilizer management (and more) that are tailored to his location (i.e. maize environment) and locally-available fertilizer sources.

The software also presents a simple profit analysis comparing costs and benefits between the farmer’s current practice and the recommended alternative improved practice. In addition, Nutrient Expert for Hybrid Maize was designed in such a way that it can be used as a learning tool—providing quick helps, instant summary tables and graphs, plus allowing a great amount of flexibility in navigating through the modules in the software.

The Nutrient Expert for Hybrid Maize helps to:
• develop an optimal planting density for a location
• evaluate current nutrient management practices
• determine a meaningful yield goal based on attainable yield
• estimate fertilizer NPK rates required for the selected yield goal
• translate fertilizer NPK rates into fertilizer sources
• develop an application strategy for fertilizers (right rate, right source, right location, right time), and
• compare the expected or actual benefit of current and improved practices

For more information visit IPNI Southeast Asia website

The user interface of the Nutrient Expert for Hybrid Maize software.