Research
The project focuses on three research themes:
BIOPHYSICAL RESEARCH
Dry season summer rice crops showed nitrogen responses at the Taungoo farmer’s field site and at the Yezin YAU research farm site. The highest N fertiliser rate (160 kg N/ha) at Taungoo achieved a mean rice grain yield of 5.24 t/ha compared to the zero N treatment mean grain yield of 3.74 t/ha. At Yezin, the highest mean rice grain yield for the dry season crop was 8.15 t/ha which was obtained with 130 kg N/ha. At Yezin even the zero N rate treatment produced high mean grain yield of 6.8 t/ha, which was higher than the highest treatment grain yield at the Taungoo site. This reflected the influence of other sources of N apart from fertiliser on crop yield. The Yezin soil had significantly higher total N levels than the Taungoo soil.
In the wet season, the rice crop responses to N were small at both the Taungoo and Yezin sites. At Taungoo the 130 kg N/ha rate achieved the maximum mean grain yield of 4.2 t/ha which
was only slightly higher than the zero N/ha treatment mean yield of 3.5 t/ha. At the Yezin YAU site there was also only a weak response to nitrogen fertiliser in the wet season with the top N fertiliser rate treatment (160 kg N/ha) achieving the maximum mean grain yield of 4.7 t/ha, a slight increase on the zero N treatment mean yield of 4.1 t/ha. This site at Yezin site was replaced with a nearby farmer’s field at Sein Sar Pin village as it had atypically large nitrogen inputs in the past.
A comparison of deep-placed urea briquettes (UDP) with current farmer practice [surface broadcast application – 50% at 10 days after transplanting (10DAT) and 50% at panicle initiation (PI)] at 77.6 kg N/ha in the dry season showed no differences at Yezin. At Taungoo, the UDP treatment achieved a 10% higher mean grain yield but this was not significant at 5%. No comparative benefit was found for UDP at either of these sites for the monsoon crop, but this comparison was compromised by problems with the briquettes which disintegrated on the application, apparently relating to poor coherence of the product under high humidity conditions.
There was a strong response by maize to N fertiliser at sites at Laythar and Tatkon. At the Laythar farmer’s site, 250 kg N/ha treatment achieved the maximum mean yield of 8.4 t/ha, which was significantly higher than the zero N treatment mean yield of only 1.8 t/ha. At the Tatkon research station site, the highest N fertiliser rate (250 kg N/ha) achieved the highest mean maize kernel yield of 13.2t/ha. This was significantly higher than the zero N treatment mean kernel yield of 2.3 t/ha.
Fieldwork on N dynamics in soils, including denitrification, DNRA, and biological N fixation, were completed at sites in Myanmar and Australia. The soils that had received little N fertiliser in Myanmar showed greater N fixation, resulting in an N-conserving system, and this contrasted strongly with rice produced on soils with large N fertiliser addition in Australia. An explanation of the long term sustainable production of rice in Myanmar, with low yield and little fertiliser N input, was elucidated. The field trials included 15N labeled urea in micro-plots for selected treatments to allow determination of fertiliser N uptake. Soil and plant samples have been analysed.
Representative samples of fertilisers in market places were taken, and a questionnaire collected supporting information from fertiliser sellers. The nitrogen content of commercial fertilisers in the local markets of central Myanmar are generally up to specification. Only a few (6%) of the inspected fertilisers were deficient in nitrogen, and they were all compound fertilisers (containing nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium). Factors influencing quality control of fertilisers included weak control of fertiliser imports at borders, inadequate fertiliser inspection, delays in providing up-to-date information on fertiliser products, limited knowledge of dealers, and slow feedback from laboratories. A comparison of the analytical results for nitrogen in fertilisers done in Yangon and Melbourne showed the Yangon laboratory is producing reliable results.
Soil pits for site characterisation were dug, and soils were described and sampled. Soil surveys near the project sites were started at Zayathiri village tract. Soil information is scarce in central Myanmar and is a key input for decision support systems to make fertiliser recommendations. A decision support system in the form of an app is planned, and farmer participation—in terms of identifying soils for fertiliser decision purposes—is expected.
SOCIOECONOMIC RESEARCH
The work addressing economic and policy constraints to adoption of improved rice and maize production by fertilisation have established that existing levels of fertiliser application are relatively low, but farmers in central Myanmar apply both compound (15:15:15) and urea fertiliser. This confirms the main premise of the project that fertiliser use by these smallholder farmers is relatively low.
Socioeconomics surveys, initially of 232 farmers and subsequently, and in more detail, of 600 farmers, and focus group meetings were done to provide a great deal of useful information for understanding the farming systems and some information on the farm management systems. CommCare tablet-based software has been evaluated and developed for the surveys.
The Focus Group Workshops and Baseline Survey elicited a range of concerns, including climate change, water supplies and the importance of the economics of fertiliser use as they transition to semi-subsistence agriculture where some crop produce is sold in the market. This work has confirmed the importance of the project objectives and scope which includes both bio-physical (soil and plant conditions and responses) and socio-economic components as we address the question of improved fertility management of cereal crops for these farmers and farming systems.
A comprehensive review of decision support systems has been prepared for journal publication. A smartphone DSS for rice in central Myanmar has been developed and data and soils information from the project area are being collected to tailor it. The need for additional fieldwork in Victoria is being investigated by a review of existing literature and other available information.
CAPACITY BUILDING
An assessment of analytical capacity at YAU was made and constraints identified. Two laboratory staff were trained in soil analyses, basic laboratory safety, and the calculation and reporting of results. The correct installation and operation of existing and new equipment were demonstrated. The YAU laboratory is now able to determine soil pH, EC, total C, total N, mineral N and Olsen P. QC protocols including ASPAC reference samples have been successfully introduced. Now that basic safety standards have been introduced and some capacity for soil analyses has been achieved we will train additional staff.
Three Ph.D. students are associated with the project. One has been awarded a UM scholarship and her work will supplement socio-economics research by the project. Another is responsible for the detailed work on N fixation in rice soils. An ACIAR-funded Ph.D. student has started research after a period of English language training. A YAU staff member received research management training through an ACIAR John Dillon Fellowship and the project is developing research project management capacity at YAU.
Ten Master students from YAU were trained on mobile data collection using CommCare.
