HI-1544 wheat · Sehore district, Madhya Pradesh
Nitrogen advice for wheat, zone by zone.
CropOptima turns 26 seasons of APSIM crop simulations into ranked nitrogen and irrigation strategies for each management zone. Every strategy weighs farm return against nitrogen use, irrigation and the nitrate left below the root zone.
Zone advisory
Pick a zone on the map
Each zone shows its five highest-ranked strategies. The first is the recommended one: the best balance of return, nitrogen, water and residual nitrate across all 26 seasons.
Method
From soil maps to a ranked strategy
Four stages, each documented in the accompanying research paper.
Delineate zones
Geospatial layers for the district were clustered with fuzzy c-means and generalised fuzzy c-means into five management zones.
Calibrate the crop model
APSIM 7.10 was parameterised for HI-1544 with measured soil profiles and initial mineral nitrogen, then tested against field yields.
Simulate strategies
Seven sowing doses, seven top-dress totals and five irrigation levels were run over 26 seasons in every zone.
Rank the trade-offs
Pareto analysis kept the efficient strategies; a risk-based compromise ranking chose the one that holds up across good and poor seasons.
Who it serves
One evidence base, three users
Farmers and extension staff
The recommended dose, its split between sowing and top-dressing, and the irrigation schedule for each zone, with the range of returns to expect in good and poor seasons.
Planners and policy makers
Zone recommendations summed over area give block-level nitrogen demand, a basis for fertiliser supply planning and subsidy allocation.
Fertiliser industry
Zone-specific nitrogen demand and timing, the starting point for region-specific products and dealer stocking.
Roadmap
What comes next
Version 0.1 publishes the research results. Later versions add field-level advice and new modules as the evidence for each is built.
- Zone map and ranked strategiesLiveFive zones, top five strategies each, HI-1544.
- Field lookup by locationPlannedFind the zone of a field from its coordinates or land record.
- Field recordsPlannedRecommended and applied doses logged per field, the data needed to test the advice on farms.
- More cultivarsPlannedEach new cultivar needs field data across a nitrogen gradient before it is added.
- Budget-based choicePlannedThe best strategy a farmer can afford, from a continuous response surface.
- Greenhouse gas and ammonia lossesPlannedN₂O and volatilisation estimates, which the current simulations do not include.
Read before use
What these numbers are
Simulated, not yet field-tested. Strategies come from a calibrated crop model. On-farm testing of the recommended strategies has not been done yet.
One cultivar. All results are for HI-1544 wheat. Other cultivars may respond differently.
Partial net return. Grain at ₹26.00 kg⁻¹ minus nitrogen at ₹12.87 kg⁻¹ N (urea ₹266.50 per 45 kg bag). Costs that do not change between strategies are left out.
Residual nitrate. Nitrate-N left in the 90–120 cm layer after harvest. It shows loss potential, not measured leaching.
Season range. P10–P90 is the range covering the middle 80% of seasons. The mean is across all 26 seasons.
Current practice. Nitrogen rates farmers in each zone reported applying. The nitrogen cost difference shown does not include any change in yield.