Part 1.

General principles of FBMPs 29

Right product, right rate, right time and

right place … the foundation of best
management practices for fertilizer
T.L. Roberts
International Plant Nutrition Institute (IPNI), USA; [email protected]

The concept of agricultural best management practices (BMPs) is not a new one. First
introduced almost 20 years ago, scientists at the Potash & Phosphate Institute (PPI) de-
fined BMPs as those practices which have been proven in research and tested through
farmer implementation to give optimum production potential, input efficiency and en-
vironmental protection (PPI, 1989; Griffith and Murphy, 1991). Today, the emphasis
appears to be more on environmental protection than optimal production potential as
current definitions suggest BMPs are practical management practices or systems de-
signed to reduce soil loss and mitigate adverse environmental effects on water quality
caused by nutrients, animal wastes and sediments. Common BMPs directed towards
mitigation include strip cropping, terracing, contour stripping, grass waterways, special
manure handling, animal waste structures, ponds, minimal tillage, grass filter strips and
nutrient application. Agronomic BMPs leading towards optimizing production poten-
tial include: variety, planting date, hybrid maturity, row-spacing, seeding rates, plant
population, integrated pest management, weed control, disease control and nutrient
management.
Both soil conservation and agronomic-based BMPs can work together to meet ob-
jectives of optimal production potential and mitigation of adverse nutrient-caused en-
vironmental effects on water quality. While BMPs may differ depending on objective,
to be used by farmers they must also be economic … the practices and management
they employ must be profitable and sustainable. Nutrient management deserves special
attention because it is critical to both optimizing production potential and to environ-
mental stewardship.
One of the challenges faced in the fertilizer industry is that much of society does
not trust it. Many believe that fertilizers are applied indiscriminately, that the industry
is only interested in increased profits … through unwarranted fertilizer sales … and
that farmers are willing recipients who unnecessarily over-apply nutrients to ensure
high yield crops resulting in excessive levels of plant nutrients to the detriment of the
environment. This, of course, is not true, but the perception is there and that drives
policymakers towards regulating nutrient management, water quality guidelines, total
daily load limits and other policies or practices aimed at restricting or eliminating the
use of fertilizer.
Part of the solution in gaining the public’s confidence in our ability to manage nu-
trients responsibly is through encouraging the widespread adoption of fertilizer BMPs.
30 Fertilizer best management practices

The fertilizer industry needs to be unified in the promotion of BMPs designed to impro-
ve nutrient use efficiency and therefore environmental protection, without sacrificing
farmer profitability. The North American industry has been advocating management
practices that foster the effective and responsible use of fertilizer nutrients with a goal to
match nutrient supply with crop requirements and minimize nutrient losses from fields
(Canadian Fertilizer Institute, The Fertilizer Institute). The approach is simple: apply
the correct nutrient in the amount needed, timed and placed to meet crop demand
— right product, right rate, right time and right place. These are the underpinning prin-
ciples of fertilizer BMPs.
The following summarizes these guiding principles for fertilizer management. A
more in-depth discussion is available in Roberts (2006).
• Right product: Match the fertilizer source and product to crop need and soil proper-
ties. Be aware of nutrient interactions and balance nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium
and other nutrients according to soil analysis and crop needs. Balanced fertilization
is one of the keys to increasing nutrient use efficiency.
• Right rate: Match the amount of fertilizer applied to the crop needs. Too much fer-
tilizer leads to leaching and other losses to the environment and too little results in
lower yields and crop quality and less residue to protect and build the soil. Realistic
yield goals, soil testing, omission plots, crop nutrient budgets, tissue testing, plant
analysis, applicator calibration, variable rate technology, crop scouting, record kee-
ping and nutrient management planning are BMPs that will help determine the right
rate of fertilizer to apply.
• Right time: Make nutrients available when the crop needs them. Nutrients are used
most efficiently when their availability is synchronized with crop demand. Applica-
tion timing (pre-plant or split applications), controlled release technologies, stabili-
zers, inhibitors and product choice are examples of BMPs that influence the timing
of nutrient availability.
• Right place: Place and keep nutrients where crops can use them. Application method
is critical for efficient fertilizer use. Crop, cropping system and soil properties dictate
the most appropriate method of application, but incorporation is usually the best
option to keep nutrients in place and increase their efficiency. Conservation tillage,
buffer strips, cover crops and irrigation management are other BMPs that will help
keep fertilizer nutrients where they were placed and accessible to growing crops.
There is not one set of universal fertilizer BMPs. By definition BMPs are site-specific
and crop-specific; they vary from one region to the next and one farm to the next de-
pending on soils, climatic conditions, crop and cropping history and management ex-
pertise. BMPs can be implemented in large, extensive farming operations and on small
family farms. Right rate, right time and right place offer sufficient flexibility that these
guiding principles can be applied to fertilizer management for rice production in Indo-
nesia, banana production in Latin America, maize production in the U.S. Corn Belt, or
any farming system used throughout the world.
Fertilizer BMPs should help ensure that fertilizer uptake and removal by target crops
is optimized and fertilizer loss to the environment is minimized. Fertilizer BMPs should
increase nutrient use efficiency, but maximum use efficiency is not the primary ob-
 Part 1. General principles of FBMPs 31

jective. The goal is to use fertilizers efficiently and effectively in providing adequate
nutrition for crops.
If maximizing fertilizer efficiency was the goal, we just need to work lower on the
yield response curve. For a typical yield response curve, the lower part of the curve is
characterized by low yields since few nutrients are available or applied (Figure 1). Nu-
trient use efficiency is high at the bottom of the yield curve because any addition of a
limiting nutrient gives a relatively large yield response as much of the applied nutrient
is taken up by the nutrient-limited crop. If highest nutrient use efficiency were the only
goal, it would be achieved here in the lower part of the yield curve and by applying the
first increments of fertilizer. Lower rates of fertilizer appear better for the environment,
because more nutrients are removed by the crop, leaving less in the soil for potential
loss. But lower yielding crops produce less biomass and leave fewer residues to protect
the land from wind and water erosion and less root growth to build soil organic matter.
As one moves up the response curve, yields continue to increase, albeit at a slower rate,
and nutrient use efficiency typically declines. However, the extent of the decline in nu-
trient use efficiency will be dictated by the BMPs employed as well as soil and climatic
conditions.
Fertilizer nutrients are essential for modern agriculture to meet its crop yield and
quality goals, but fertilizers must be used responsibly. Development and adoption of
BMPs for fertilizer are necessary for the fertilizer industry to demonstrate its commit-
ment to product and environmental stewardship, and to help the farmer produce sus-
tained, profitable yields. Every farm and field is different. Fertilizer BMPs must be adap-

100

Highest yields and lowest

75
nutrient use efficiency
Yield potential (%)

50

25
Low yield and highest
nutrient use efficiency

0
Increasing nutrient input and
decreasing nutrient use efficiency

Figure 1. Relationship between yield response and nutrient use efficiency

(Adapted from Dibb, 2000).
32 Fertilizer best management practices

table to all farming systems … one size does not fit all. Right nutrient, right rate, right
time and right place provide a framework for a farmer to select those BMPs best suited
to the farm’s soils, crops and climate and to the farmer’s management capabilities.

References and relevant literature

Canadian Fertilizer Institute (n.d.). Fertilizers and environmental stewardship. Retrie-
ved February 2007 from www.cfi.ca/facts_issues/fertilizers_and_environmental_
stewardship.asp.
Dibb, D.W. 2000. The mysteries (myths) of nutrient use efficiency. Better Crops 84(3):
3-5.
Griffith, W.K. and L.S. Murphy. 1991. The development of crop production systems
using best management practices. Potash & Phosphate Institute (PPI), Norcross,
USA.
PPI. 1989. Conventional and low-input agriculture. Economic and environmental eva-
luation, comparisons and considerations. A White Paper Report. Potash & Phos-
phate Institute (PPI), Norcross, USA.
Roberts, T.L. 2006. Improving nutrient use efficiency. In Proceedings of the IFA Agri-
culture Conference “Optimizing Resource Use Efficiency for Sustainable Intensifi-
cation of Agriculture”, 27 February - 2 March 2006, Kunming, China. International
Fertilizer Industry Association (IFA), Paris, France.
The Fertilizer Institute (n.d.). Fertilizer product stewardship brochure. Retrieved Fe-
bruary 2007 from www.tfi.org/issues/product%20stewardship%20brochure.pdf.
 The designation employed and the presentation of material in this
information product do not imply the expression of any opinion
whatsoever on the part of the International Fertilizer Industry
Association. This includes matters pertaining to the legal status of
any country, territory, city or area or its authorities, or concerning
the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.

Fertilizer Best Management Practices

First edition, IFA, Paris, France, August 2007
Copyright 2007 IFA. All rights reserved
ISBN 2-9523139-2-X

The publication can be downloaded from IFA’s web site.

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