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23 Jun Nutrient Mining in Indian Agriculture

भारतीय कृषि में पोषक तत्‍वो का खनन Nutrient mining generally refers to agricultural practices resulting in a negative nutrient balance: export (loss) of a nutrient is greater than import (input). Estimates suggest that the total area under cultivation remained more or less constant (at 140-142 Mha) over the past several decades, and there are indications that the agricultural lands are gradually being diverted to accommodate increased urbanization and industrialization. It is unlikely that sizable additional area will be brought in under cultivation in the foreseeable future. Therefore, there is no other viable option than increasing crop productivity per unit area, to meet the future production goals. Maintenance of native soil fertility in the intensively cultivated regions of the country is one of the preconditions of maintaining and improving the current crop yield levels. Intensive cropping systems remove substantial quantities of plant nutrients from soil during continued agricultural production round the year. The basic principle of maintaining the fertility status of a soil under high intensity crop production systems is to annually replenish those nutrients that are removed from the field. Indeed this becomes more relevant in the absence of the measures for adequate replenishment of the depleted nutrient pools through the removal of crop residues from agricultural fields (Sanyal 2014). The term “Nutrient Mining” is used when the quantity...