ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Agron.
Sec. Agroecological Cropping Systems
This article is part of the Research TopicEnhancing Ecosystem Services through Conservation Agriculture, Agroforestry, and Traditional Farming SystemsView all 13 articles
Combined application of nano-DAP and conventional fertilizers improved agronomic and economic performance of rainfed maize, nutrient and energy use efficiency
Provisionally accepted
K A Gopinath1
Venugopalan Visha Kumari1*
Vinod Kumar Singh1*
Arun K. Shanker1
KOTHA SAMMI REDDY2
Sumanta Kundu1
G Ravindra Chary1
BHARGAVI BUSSA1B. Rajkumar1
LAVANYA NOOKALA1
Pebbeti Chandana1M R Krupashankar3
Tarunendu Singh3- 1ICAR-Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture, Hyderabad, India
- 2ICAR - National Institute of Abiotic Stress Management, Pune, India
- 3Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Ltd, New Delhi, India
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Efficient nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) management enhances crop yield while minimizing environmental impact. Nano-fertilizers are reported to ensure sustained nutrient release, optimize nutrient absorption and improve nutrient use efficiency, leading to higher crop productivity and profitability. A two year field trial was conducted under semi-arid conditions in India to evaluate the effect of foliar-applied nano-DAP on the growth, productivity, profitability and nutrient use efficiency of rainfed maize. The treatments comprised conventional fertilizers at varying N and P levels [0, 50, 75, and 100% recommended dose of N and P] with and without foliar application of nano-DAP. Application of 100% recommended NPK (90-45-45 N-P-45 kg ha-1) through conventional fertilizers along with foliar sprays of nano-DAP (N100P100K+ nano-DAP) resulted in higher grain yield (3058 kg ha-1) and economic returns (US $ 473 ha-1). Notably, the N75P75K + nano-DAP treatment produced yield and economic returns comparable to those obtained with 100% recommended NPK, either alone or in combination with nano-DAP. This demonstrates that two foliar sprays of nano-DAP can reduce N and P inputs by 25% without compromising on yield or profitability. Higher agronomic use efficiency of N (26.9%) and P (48.4%), apparent recovery efficiency of N (42.6%) and P (11.3%) were also observed under N75P75K + nano-DAP. Furthermore, N75P75K + nano-DAP treatment reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 24.5% and energy consumption by 15.4%, highlighting its potential for sustainable maize production with reduced environmental impact compared to N100P100K treatments.
Keywords: Efficiency, Energy, Fertilizers, GHG emissions, Nitrogen, Nanotechnology, nutrient, And Phosphorus
Received: 13 Oct 2025; Accepted: 21 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Gopinath, Visha Kumari, Singh, Shanker, REDDY, Kundu, Chary, BUSSA, Rajkumar, NOOKALA, Chandana, Krupashankar and Singh. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Venugopalan Visha Kumari, visha.venugopal@gmail.com
Vinod Kumar Singh, vkumarsingh_01@yahoo.com
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