Assessment of productivity and profitabilty of wheat using Nutrient Expert®-Wheat model in Jhapa district of Nepal

Wheat is the third most important cereal crop in Nepal after rice and maize both in area and production, but its productivity of 2.3 tonne ha(−)(1) is very less compared to other developed countries (6 tonne ha(−1) for Switzerland and China) in the world. The main cause of low wheat yield in Nepal is the improper and inadequate use of fertilizer devoid of site specific nutrient management practices. Therefore, a farmers' field experiment was conducted during November 2015 to April 2016 to rectify the best fertilizer management options at two sites of Damak and Gauradaha in Jhapa district in eastern-Terai of Nepal using Nutrient Expert®-Wheat model. The research was accomplished in Randomized Complete Block Design with 2 treatments and 20 replications, considering farmers' field as replication. Two treatments included in the experimentation were NE® (Nutrient Expert Recommendation) and FFP (Farmer's Fertilizer Practices). The statistical result revealed the highly significant difference in terms of number of effective tiller m(−2), plant height, filled grain per spike, spike length, grain, straw and biological yields and harvest index. The highest yield (4.71 tonne ha(−1)) was obtained from NE field than FFP (2.99 tonne ha(−1)). On an average, NE based practices produced 58 % higher yield in comparison to FFP. NE based treatment produced significantly higher biomass yield, yield attributes and cost-benefit ratio than FFP treatments. Field experiment validation confirmed that the Nutrient Expert® Wheat model could be used as the most adoptable and practical precision decision support system tool to make a more authentic fertilizer recommendation in eastern-Terai of Nepal.