Integrating soil and crop metrics with precision agriculture: Pusa N Doctor app for sustainable nitrogen management in maize.
Efficient nitrogen (N) management is critical for sustaining high maize yields while minimizing environmental impacts, as conventional practices often lead to N losses, greenhouse gas emissions, and reduced eco-efficiency. To address these challenges, the "Pusa N Doctor" app was developed...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2025-01-01
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| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0318678 |
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| author | Sayantika Sarkar Pravin Kumar Upadhyay Abir Dey Utpal Ekka Sanjay Singh Rathore Kapila Shekhawat Md Yeasin Rajiv Kumar Singh Subhash Babu Anchal Dass Tarik Mitran Navin Kumar Sharma Atul Kumar Satendra Singh Vinod Kumar Singh |
| author_facet | Sayantika Sarkar Pravin Kumar Upadhyay Abir Dey Utpal Ekka Sanjay Singh Rathore Kapila Shekhawat Md Yeasin Rajiv Kumar Singh Subhash Babu Anchal Dass Tarik Mitran Navin Kumar Sharma Atul Kumar Satendra Singh Vinod Kumar Singh |
| author_sort | Sayantika Sarkar |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Efficient nitrogen (N) management is critical for sustaining high maize yields while minimizing environmental impacts, as conventional practices often lead to N losses, greenhouse gas emissions, and reduced eco-efficiency. To address these challenges, the "Pusa N Doctor" app was developed using dark green colour index (DGCI) for precision N management in maize. The app was further validated in experiment conducted with three N rates- 0 kg/ha (N0PK), 50 kg/ha (N0PK), and 75 kg/ha (N75PK) as basal, along with two splits of N at 35 and 45 DAS as per app (N50PK+App and N75PK+App) and GSTM (N50PK + GSTM and N75PK+GSTM). The plant height, leaf area index, and plant N concentration was highest in N75PK+App. The highest crop growth rate between 0-30 DAS was observed in the N75PK+App treatment (9.97 g/m²/day). Conversely, the maximum relative growth rate between 30-60 DAS was in the N50PK+App, while the lowest was in N75PK+App. The highest harvest index of 35.13% was in N50PK+App. Except for N75PK+App and recommended dose of fertilizer (RDF), the partial N balance was close to 1, with a minimum value of 0.87 in N75PK+App. The lowest virtual N was in N50PK+App (0.45), while in N75PK+App it was 2.16 times higher than RDF. All N fertilized treatments except N50PK+App witnessed increased cost of cultivation over RDF. N50PK+App had 29.5% lower GHGI of N2O, with 11.6% and 13.3% higher energy and GHG-based eco-efficiency respectively than RDF. Thus, applying 50 kg N as basal along with its 2 splitting as per Pusa N Doctor, optimizes maize-growth, N use efficiency, eco-efficiency, and reduces GHG emissions. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-e3e5345707f84bffa9b24b34609cccdb |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj-art-e3e5345707f84bffa9b24b34609cccdb2025-08-20T03:17:44ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032025-01-01204e031867810.1371/journal.pone.0318678Integrating soil and crop metrics with precision agriculture: Pusa N Doctor app for sustainable nitrogen management in maize.Sayantika SarkarPravin Kumar UpadhyayAbir DeyUtpal EkkaSanjay Singh RathoreKapila ShekhawatMd YeasinRajiv Kumar SinghSubhash BabuAnchal DassTarik MitranNavin Kumar SharmaAtul KumarSatendra SinghVinod Kumar SinghEfficient nitrogen (N) management is critical for sustaining high maize yields while minimizing environmental impacts, as conventional practices often lead to N losses, greenhouse gas emissions, and reduced eco-efficiency. To address these challenges, the "Pusa N Doctor" app was developed using dark green colour index (DGCI) for precision N management in maize. The app was further validated in experiment conducted with three N rates- 0 kg/ha (N0PK), 50 kg/ha (N0PK), and 75 kg/ha (N75PK) as basal, along with two splits of N at 35 and 45 DAS as per app (N50PK+App and N75PK+App) and GSTM (N50PK + GSTM and N75PK+GSTM). The plant height, leaf area index, and plant N concentration was highest in N75PK+App. The highest crop growth rate between 0-30 DAS was observed in the N75PK+App treatment (9.97 g/m²/day). Conversely, the maximum relative growth rate between 30-60 DAS was in the N50PK+App, while the lowest was in N75PK+App. The highest harvest index of 35.13% was in N50PK+App. Except for N75PK+App and recommended dose of fertilizer (RDF), the partial N balance was close to 1, with a minimum value of 0.87 in N75PK+App. The lowest virtual N was in N50PK+App (0.45), while in N75PK+App it was 2.16 times higher than RDF. All N fertilized treatments except N50PK+App witnessed increased cost of cultivation over RDF. N50PK+App had 29.5% lower GHGI of N2O, with 11.6% and 13.3% higher energy and GHG-based eco-efficiency respectively than RDF. Thus, applying 50 kg N as basal along with its 2 splitting as per Pusa N Doctor, optimizes maize-growth, N use efficiency, eco-efficiency, and reduces GHG emissions.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0318678 |
| spellingShingle | Sayantika Sarkar Pravin Kumar Upadhyay Abir Dey Utpal Ekka Sanjay Singh Rathore Kapila Shekhawat Md Yeasin Rajiv Kumar Singh Subhash Babu Anchal Dass Tarik Mitran Navin Kumar Sharma Atul Kumar Satendra Singh Vinod Kumar Singh Integrating soil and crop metrics with precision agriculture: Pusa N Doctor app for sustainable nitrogen management in maize. PLoS ONE |
| title | Integrating soil and crop metrics with precision agriculture: Pusa N Doctor app for sustainable nitrogen management in maize. |
| title_full | Integrating soil and crop metrics with precision agriculture: Pusa N Doctor app for sustainable nitrogen management in maize. |
| title_fullStr | Integrating soil and crop metrics with precision agriculture: Pusa N Doctor app for sustainable nitrogen management in maize. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Integrating soil and crop metrics with precision agriculture: Pusa N Doctor app for sustainable nitrogen management in maize. |
| title_short | Integrating soil and crop metrics with precision agriculture: Pusa N Doctor app for sustainable nitrogen management in maize. |
| title_sort | integrating soil and crop metrics with precision agriculture pusa n doctor app for sustainable nitrogen management in maize |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0318678 |
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