Agricultural Reviews

Nutrient use efficiency (NUE) is a very important concept in the evaluation of crop production systems. The main point of consideration is that the response of applied fertilizers and their use efficiency to get the maximum output. Nutrient use efficiency of applied fertilizers is very low due to many reasons like surface run off, leaching, volatilization, denitrification and fixation of micro nutrients in the soil due to very high pH. The highest nutrient use efficiency always occurs at the lower parts of the yield response curve, where fertilizer inputs are the lowest, but effectiveness of fertilizers in increasing crop yields and optimizing farmer profitability should not be sacrificed for the sake of efficiency alone. There must be a balance between optimal nutrient use efficiency and optimal crop productivity. Hence here is a need to understand the best soil and water management practices which helps in increasing nutrient use efficiency and yield by using less fertilizers so that the goal of sustainable agriculture can be achieved. Nutrient use efficiency can be optimized by fertilizer best management practices that apply nutrients at the right rate, time, and place and accompanied by the right agronomic practices. In this review an approach has been made to clear the concept of nutrient use efficiency and the interventions which can be used to increase the nutrient use efficiency.