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Plant Science Today (PST)

Review Articles

Vol. 13 No. sp5 (2026): Recent Advances in Agriculture

Assessment of the effect of site-specific nutrient management on rice crop in South Asia: A review

DOI
https://doi.org/10.14719/pst.11787
Submitted
15 September 2025
Published
15-09-2026

Abstract

Nitrogen (N) is an essential mineral nutrient for plant growth and the demand for nitrogenous fertilisers has increased significantly to achieve higher grain production per unit area. However, excessive application of N can lead to serious environmental problems, particularly water pollution (through nitrate leaching and runoff) and air pollution (through emissions of ammonia and nitrous oxide). To reduce the negative environmental impact of N while ensuring sustainable crop production, efficient N management is essential. The present study comprises N management site-specific nutrient management (SSNM) tools such as leaf colour chart (LCC), soil plant analyser development (SPAD) and rice crop manager (RCM) and certain strategies that have been introduced in agriculture to optimise fertiliser application rates, minimise N losses and supply adequate nutrients to crops according to their demand. Proper N management not only improves nutrient use efficiency but also enhances productivity and environmental sustainability. The SSNM is recognised as proven technology for the better management of N. We collected research papers published in reputed international journals on SSNM and precise N management during 2000–2025. The relevant data from the research papers was systematically tabulated and univariate analysis was performed to draw the interferences. The yield increment was 8.14 % in SSNM experiments over blanket application of N fertiliser. Nitrogen dose was drastically reduced by the application of N as per SSNM principle; it reduces around 12 kg N ha-1, which is 9.38 % lower N than the non-SSNM treatment. The partial factor efficiency, which is around 22.31 % higher in SSNM applied field than control treatment. While the agronomic efficiency was varied from 12.84–17.58 in farmers fertilisers practice (FFP) and SSNM, respectively, this is 36.9 % higher in SSNM than control treatment. Therefore, SSNM intervention needs to be popularised among the farmer’s for environmental sustainability and food security.

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