NuMaSS: Nutrient Management Support System in North Tamaulipas, Mexico.

In order to increase crop productivity through improved soil nutrient management, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) collaborated with North Carolina State University and Texas A&M University in the Soil Collaborative Research Support Program. One of the projects focuses on a nutrient management decision support tool (NuMaSS) that can be used in developing countries to reduce nutrient limitations to crop production by facilitating the process for diagnosing soil constraints and selecting the appropriate management practices for location-specific conditions. Mexico is one of the testing sites together with other countries of Central and South America. The goal of this project is to support the development and adoption of NuMaSS-based knowledge on alkaline and calcareous soils in the Tamaulipas province of Mexico. This province has the potential to benefit from improved access to information on proper fertilization with N and P, and/or soil management. On-farm strip tests comparing crop yields from NuMaSS recommendations vs. INIFAP (Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Forestales, Agricolas y Pecuarias) local recommendations were conducted with grain sorghum, corn, and cotton. Crop yield data and economic returns across site-years indicated that NuMaSS recommendations performed equally well or superior to those of INIFAP for irrigated sorghum, corn and cotton. Both NuMaSS and INIFAP recommendations significantly increased yields and economic returns of these crops compared to controls.