Price: PhP 600.00 for Philippine orders via www.irri.org only. For orders outside the Philippines visit Science Publishers, Inc.

This book summarizes seven years of research to develop a new concept for Site-Specific Nutrient Management (SSNM) in irrigated rice systems and the tools needed for applying it in farmers’ fields. As part of IRRI’s Irrigated Rice Research Consortium (IRRC), this work has evolved into one of the largest and most important agronomic research projects in the world. More than 100 researchers and support staff in six countries collaborate in this unprecedented network of strategic on-farm and on-station research, representing disciplines such as soil science, agronomy, soil microbiology, pest management, and socioeconomics.

After reviewing the economics of rice production and status of productivity trends in Asia, most of the book presents the principles of a new SSNM concept and results of a first phase of field-testing conducted from 1997 to 2001 at numerous sites in Asia. This approach represents a “new school” of plant nutrient management in which much emphasis is given to quantifying crop nutrient needs and using the crop as an indicator of soil nutrient supply.

This book summarizes the theoretical development, evolution, and simplification of new nutrient management concepts in irrigated rice that form the base for new tools developed by the International Research Institute in collaboration with the Southeast Asia Program of PPI/PPIC and IPI such as the Practical Guide for Nutrient Management in Rice published in 2002 and the Nutrient Decision Support System (NuDSS) software released in 2005.