The study on the economic fertilizer requirement for paddy production on a Malaysian soil

Abstract

This initial exercisewas to determine the paddy yield response functions with fertilizer application on a Malaysian soil in order to incorporate the economic consideration of the Malaysian  fertilizer  cost  and paddy  price  variations.  The  yield  response curve for  each fertilizer could be described by a quadratic equation and this can be used in fertilizer rate prediction. The fluctuating fertilizer  costs  and  paddy  prices  were  used  to  estimate  the economic fertilizer rate.  It was found that the economic fertilizer rate for each N, P, K fertilizers without subsidy were 130.96kg/ha, 41.57kg/ha, 64.20kg/ha respectively for the chosen soil types. The simulation revealed that the economic fertilizer rate and maximum profit were influenced by the current fertilizer cost and price of paddy with the assumption that subsidies were not given for the fertilizers.

Keywords: optimum fertilizer requirement; economic; paddy production; maximum profit