Nearly 25 years ago, IFA, along with other public and private sector funders, started supporting research on a new approach for site-specific nutrient management (SSNM) – a form of ‘precision farming’ for smallholder farmers. Over time, several organizations developed digital decision tools for SSNM for rice, wheat, maize, cassava, and other crops in Asia and Africa.
This paper summarizes the work done since the mid-1990s and shows robust performance benefits across different crops and environments. On average, using SSNM, yields of rice, wheat, and maize increased by 12%, profits by 15%, and agronomic nitrogen use efficiency by 40%. Compared to current farming practices, this new approach requires 10% less nitrogen fertilizer, better timing of N application, and more balanced nutrition with potassium. The biggest challenge was to scale this approach up from thousands of farmers to millions of smallholder farmers. This will need wider uptake by the private sector as well.
Opportunities exist to, based on the existing SSNM principles, databases, and models, develop suitable farmer advisory solutions. The Consortium for Precision Crop Nutrition provides a new platform for more open innovation and public-private sector collaboration on SSNM. IFA members interested in that area are welcome to join.
