Poor fertilizer management and intensive tillage have increased production costs, lowered productivity, and significantly depleted soil nutrients. Although nutrient management options (NMOs) within crop establishment options (CEOs) based maize production system (MPS) is seldom explored, CEOs is increasingly advocated to tackle problems with soil health, food security, and climate change. Developing and implementing effective NMOs is needed for improving system sustainability, profitability, and productivity. We evaluated the effects of CEOs and NMOs on nutrient acquisition, profitability, and maize productivity in the Northwestern Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGPs) of India during 2018–2019. In this study, four CEOs treatment [(i) conventional tillage without residue {CT–R}, (ii) conventional tillage with residue {CT+R}, (iii) permanent raised bed without residue {PRB–R}, and (iv) permanent raised bed with residue {PRB+R}], were kept in the main plot and three NMOs [(i) soil test-based recommendation {STBR}, (ii) nutrient expert-based recommendation {NE}, and (iii) NE with GreenSeeker {NE+GS} were tested in subplots. The results showed that the crop growth metrics, including plant height, dry matter accumulation, leaf area index, and crop growth rate, were significantly greater at PRB+R comparing to treatments. Additionally, PRB+R resulted in the shortest time to 50 % and 75 % silking, indicating enhanced crop development. NMOs significantly improved crop growth parameters. The NE+GS treatment recorded higher plant height (145.8–149.2 cm and 222.3–224.8 cm), dry matter accumulation (195.5–198.4 g/m² and 408.4–412.0 g/m²), leaf area index (2.45–2.48 and 3.24–3.30), and crop growth rate (6.50 and 7.10 g/m²/day). PRB+R showed the shortest silking times (60.5 and 62.2 days). PRB+R also attained the maximum maize yield (6.23 and 6.26 t/ha), by a 17.82 % and 17.57 % increase over CT–R in 2018 and 2019. The NE+GS treatment resulted in the highest maize productivity, with additional yield gains over NE alone and STBR. The lowest cultivation cost ($513.87/ha and $513.97 /ha), highest net return ($1028.91/ha and $1083.60/ha), and best benefit-cost ratio (2.00 and 2.11) were observed with PRB–R, while gross returns ($1573.78/ha and $1630.42/ha) had highest in PRB+R. The NE+GS option achieved higher gross returns ($1544.73/ha and $1599.37/ha), net returns ($918.29/ha and $977.30/ha), and benefit-cost ratios (1.47 and 1.57) with lower cultivation costs ($626.43/ha and $622.06/ha) compared to NE and STBR. The PRB+R and NE+GS combination had found highest nutrient uptake (N, P, K) in grain and straw, highlighting their effectiveness in nutrient management. Overall, our findings recommend adopting PRB+R and NE+GS to optimize maize production system productivity and profitability, ensuring agricultural sustainability and resilience to adverse climatic conditions in Northwest India.

中文翻译：

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作物种植和养分管理方案：在印度西北部的玉米生产系统中优化生产力、最大限度地提高盈利能力并减轻不利的气候条件


肥料管理不善和集约化耕作增加了生产成本，降低了生产力，并严重耗尽了土壤养分。尽管很少探索基于作物建立选项 （CEO） 的玉米生产系统 （MPS） 中的养分管理选项 （NMO），但越来越多地倡导 CEO 解决土壤健康、粮食安全和气候变化问题。开发和实施有效的 NMO 对于提高系统的可持续性、盈利能力和生产力是必要的。我们评估了 2018-2019 年印度西北部恒河平原 （IGP） 的 CEO 和 NMO 对养分获取、盈利能力和玉米生产力的影响。在这项研究中，四个 CEO 处理 [（i） 无残留的常规耕作 {CT-R}，（ii） 有残留的常规耕作 {CT+R}，（iii） 无残留的永久高架床 {PRB-R}，和 （iv） 有残留物的永久高架床 {PRB+R}]，在主地块中保留，三个 NMO [（i） 基于土壤测试的建议 {STBR}，（ii） 基于营养专家的建议 {NE}， （iii） 在子图中测试了 NE 和 GreenSeeker {NE+GS}。结果表明，与处理相比，PRB+R 处理下的作物生长指标（包括株高、干物质积累、叶面积指数和作物生长速率）显著更高。此外，PRB+R 导致 50 % 和 75 % 吐丝的时间最短，表明作物发育增强。NMO 显着改善了作物生长参数。NE+GS 处理记录了较高的株高（145.8–149.2 cm 和 222.3–224.8 cm）、干物质积累量（195.5–198.4 g/m² 和 408.4–412.0 g/m²）、叶面积指数（2.45–2.48 和 3.24–3.30）和作物生长速率（6.50 和 7.10 g/m²/天）。PRB+R 的出丝时间最短 （60.5 天和 62.2 天）。 PRB+R 还实现了玉米最高产量（6.23 和 6.26 吨/公顷），比 2018 年和 2019 年的 CT-R 分别增加了 17.82% 和 17.57%。NE+GS 处理导致最高的玉米生产力，与单独的 NE 和 STBR 相比，产量进一步提高。PRB-R 的种植成本最低（513.87 美元/公顷和 513.97 美元/公顷）、净回报率最高（1028.91 美元/公顷和 1083.60 美元/公顷）和最佳收益成本比（2.00 和 2.11），而 PRB+R 的总回报率（1573.78 美元/公顷和 1630.42 美元/公顷）最高。与 NE 和 STBR 相比，NE+GS 选项实现了更高的总回报（1544.73 美元/公顷和 1599.37 美元/公顷）、净回报（918.29 美元/公顷和 977.30 美元/公顷）和收益成本比（1.47 和 1.57），种植成本更低（626.43 美元/公顷和 622.06 美元/公顷）。PRB+R 和 NE+GS 组合发现谷物和秸秆的养分吸收 （N、P、K） 最高，凸显了它们在养分管理中的有效性。总体而言，我们的研究结果建议采用 PRB+R 和 NE+GS 来优化玉米生产系统的生产力和盈利能力，确保印度西北部农业的可持续性和对不利气候条件的适应能力。