© Springer International Publishing AG 2016 115
M. Farooq, K.H.M. Siddique (eds.), Innovations in Dryland Agriculture,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-47928-6_5
Nutrient Management in Dryland Agriculture
Systems
Ahmad Nawaz and Muhammad Farooq
1 Introduction
Dryland agriculture is being followed on various soil types and in different climatic
regions across the globe. Extreme variability in rainfall events and low fertility of
soils are the major biophysical factors limiting the productivity of dryland regions
which accounts for 40 % of the total earth surface land area (Turner et al. 2011 ).
Therefore, nutrient management in dryland regions is of prime concern. Fertilizer
input in dryland agriculture may vary with soil and climate. However, the actual
fertilizer use is less than the optimal in dryland areas in the world. Indeed, cultivated
crops in dryland areas deplete the soil nutrients more than the amount of nutrients
that is returned back to soil which causes negative balance of nutrients thus making
the soil deficient in nitrogen (N), phosphorous (P), and potassium (K) (Irshad et al.
2007 ). For example, in Pakistan, about 100 % of the dryland soils are deficient in N,
90 % in P, and 20–40 % in K (Shah and Arshad 2006 ). The deficiencies of boron
(B), zinc (Zn), and iron (Fe) are also prevalent on 60 %, 67–71 % and 21–25 %
soils, respectively (Rashid 1994 ). The losses of crop nutrients are usually high in
dryland regions due to leaching, soil erosion (IFPRI 1996 ), runoff, extreme weather
events, and low soil moisture.
The productivity of crops in dryland areas in the world is very low owing to low
use of fertilizers by the farmers. For instance, the average yield of cereals does not
exceed 1.5 t ha–1 in the developing countries due to low use of fertilizer input.
A. Nawaz (*)
Department of Agronomy, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad 38040, Pakistan
e-mail: [email protected]
M. Farooq
Department of Agronomy, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad 38040, Pakistan
The UWA Institute of Agriculture, The University of Western Australia,
Perth, WA 6001, Australia