NPK Removal from Maize Cultivation Fields in Kenethao and Paklai Districts, Xayabury Province, Lao PDR

Abstract

And nutrients removed through maize crop harvest may lead to land degradation.Nutrients are removed from the soil at crop harvests. The application of fertilizer supplies nutrients to support crop growth and replenish soil nutrient stocks. Tan et al. ( 2005) estimated global soil NPK budgets for major crop production in 2000, and suggested that soil nutrient depletion can be attributed to insufficient nutrient inputs in many developing countries and in all of the least developed countries. Analyzing the nutrient balance in farmland is useful for understanding nutrient depletion in farmland and reveals the effects of nutrient management practices in cropping systems on soil nutrient status (e.g., Frissel 1978). When a field has a lot of nutrients in the soil with no or low fertilizer input, the amount of nutrient uptake by the crop is higher than the amount of nutrient input to the farmland; hence, the nutrient balance becomes negative (Haileslassie et al. 2006, He et al.