Integrated Nutrient Management : Our Productive Future

         INM, it's the new buzz-acronym, and it stands for  Integrated Nutrient Management.   Similar to Integrated Pest Management, INM is a whole systems approach that looks to maximize soil fertility through the precise and coordinated use of fertilizer inputs.   A conventional INM program uses both organic and inorganic fertilizers, along with bio-active inputs such as composts and worm castings and specific microbial inoculates.  The goal of INM is to increase soil fertility and keep it sustained and sustainable.
            Research is showing us that soils which are fertilized solely with synthetic chemicals become less productive over time.  This decline has been attributed to secondary and micro-nutrient deficiencies, as well as a decline in microbial populations.  Over-fertilization of soluble synthetic fertilizers can lead to leaching and environmental pollution.  Integrated Nutrient Management works to solve these problems by encouraging a healthy and resilient soil microbiota.  
            As we are seeing in other articles posted to this blog, using Compost Tea is paramount when it comes to keeping plants disease free and abundantly productive.  A farm or garden with a good INM program will have a compost tea brewer bubbling somewhere on site.  That farm will also have years of healthy growth in its future.  
          Here are links to a few recent journal articles touting the benefits of a solid INM program:

• Integrated nutrient management in wheat grown in a northeast India soil: Impacts on soil organic carbon fractions in relation to grain yield.   Soil and Tillage Research 2016
• Impact of Integrated Nutrient Management on Physico-Chemical Attributes in Strawberry (Fragaria × ananassaDuch.) Environment & Ecology 2016
• Influence of Integrated Nutrient Management in Pigeonpea [Cajanus cajan (L.) Millisp.] Based Inter-cropping System under Rainfed Condition. International Journal of Bio-Resource & Stress Management 2016
• Integrated Nutrient Management for Enhancing Nitrogen Use Efficiency.  Indian Journal of Fertilisers 2016
• Effects of integrated nutrient management on agronomical attributes of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum L.) under field conditions.  Archives of Agriculture and Environmental Science 2016

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